Crown seeks life sentence for 2021 manslaughter

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This article was published 07/12/2022 (1089 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In jail awaiting sentencing for an unprovoked, fatal attack on a recent immigrant, Norman Pruden stood before a judge Wednesday and offered a few brief words of apology.

“I just like to say I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for anybody to be hurt,” Pruden, 37, told King’s Bench Justice Shauna McCarthy.

McCarthy, who is set to deliver the sentence next week, ordered Pruden be brought before her because an oversight at a hearing last month resulted in him not being provided an opportunity to address court.

Pruden has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Aug. 17, 2021, killing of 41-year-old Ifa Germosa, who died after Pruden beat him with a crutch outside the Mount Royal Hotel in Winnipeg.

Prosecutors, in a rare move, are recommending McCarthy sentence Pruden to life in prison.

Sentences for manslaughter can range from probation to life in prison, the widest range for any crime in the Criminal Code.

While Pruden lacked the required state of mind to commit murder, his attack on Germosa was “as near to murder as possible, without actually being (murder),” Crown attorney Mike Himmelman told McCarthy at a sentencing hearing Nov. 7.

Pruden’s criminal record spans his adult life and includes seven convictions for crimes of violence. Unlike many offenders convicted of similar attacks, Pruden was “completely sober” when he killed Germosa, Himmelman said.

“He knew exactly what he was doing.”

Germosa had only recently come to Canada, having walked across the border from the United States in late 2020.

According to an agreed statement of facts previously provided to court, Pruden was living in a room at the Salvation Army at 180 Henry Ave., when he walked, with a crutch, to the beer vendor at the nearby Mount Royal Hotel to buy alcohol the night of Aug. 16.

Security video showed Pruden speaking to Germosa inside the vendor around 10:51 p.m.

“After the deceased left (the vendor), the accused said to someone, ‘Hey, you want me to beat him up? I’ll beat him up for you… You want me to f—-k him up? That guy, the black guy. You want me to beat him?’” said the agreed statement of facts.

“The accused, who was in possession of an aluminum crutch, followed the deceased outside, walked up behind him and struck him on the back of the head near the ear with the crutch. As a result, the deceased fell to the ground.”

Two witnesses who saw the attack identified Pruden in a police photo lineup.

Pruden walked with his crutch back to his room on Henry Avenue while Germosa laid on the ground unconscious, where Winnipeg Police Service officers found him in medical distress.

Germosa was taken to Health Sciences Centre, where he died the following evening from blunt head trauma.

In a pre-sentence report prepared for court, Pruden described the attack as an “altercation” that “got out of hand.”

“This was not a fight that went too far, this was not an impulsive act in the face of some sort of insult,” Himmelman said. “(Pruden) stalked after the deceased with the stated intention to beat him.”

Himmelman said an apology by Pruden included in the pre-sentence report did not represent genuine remorse, noting he has made no effort to access rehabilitative programming during his more than 14 months in custody.

“This is a strong indication of the serious ongoing risk he poses to the public.”

Defence lawyer Pam Smith argued the attack on Germosa was “on the low end” for manslaughter cases, and urged McCarthy to sentence him to 10 years in prison.

Smith said Pruden “thought he might give the victim a smack or something,” but because he was having trouble walking, swung his crutch at Germosa instead.

“He’s not carrying a crutch as a weapon to use,” she said. “It’s something that happened almost on a whim.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca