‘Senseless killing’ of man he’d just met worth at least 15 years in prison: judge

With a trail of criminal convictions behind him, Dartanian Packulak had been out of custody two months when he shot and killed 23-year-old Everett King, a man he had just met watching an ultimate fighting match at a North End home.

Packulak, 24, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years on Tuesday, after being convicted by a jury of second-degree murder in December.

“There is no evidence to refute the inference that this was a completely senseless killing of an unarmed person,” said Court of King’s Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg. “Mr. Packulak’s criminal history and attitudes show a person who appears to simply be incorrigible.”

Court was told King was at a Mountain Avenue home on Sept. 10, 2023, watching a televised UFC match with friends when another man arrived with Packulak, who was a stranger to others in the house.

Before long, Packulak and King got into an argument. Packulak left the house, returned minutes later in a car driven by another man and parked in the back lane. King approached the vehicle and the two men argued briefly.

Packulak and his companion drove away, then returned a second time. That’s when Packulak shot King from the passenger seat. King died in hospital.

“There is no evidence they knew each other or what the argument was about,” Greenberg said.

Packulak remained entrenched in criminality while in remand custody, telling a probation officer he was “actively involved in gang activity and had no intention of changing his lifestyle,” Greenberg said.

While in custody, Packulak has been the subject of multiple incident reports for assaulting other inmates, threatening corrections officers and possessing handmade weapons. While on trial and sitting in the prisoner’s box, Packulak removed an electrical socket faceplate which he smuggled out of court before it was seized by corrections officers.

A cellphone video provided to court showed Packulak two days before the killing armed with a gun, threatening another man who had been tied to a chair.

“His arrest for (the murder) did not temper his behaviour,” Greenberg said.

A presentence report provided to court said Packulak’s parents were mired in drugs and gangs. He bounced from one foster home to another and was repeatedly abused by his caregivers.

“Mr. Packulak’s childhood was marked by instability and abuse,” Greenberg said. “It would be difficult for any child to survive that without harbouring extraordinary anger. One has to wonder whether the bravado he seems to demonstrate is to protect himself both physically and emotionally.”

Prosecutors had recommended Packulak serve at least 18 years in custody before he is allowed to apply for parole, a term Greenberg rejected as “crushing.”

Greenberg said Packulak is still young and has shown “some glimmer of hope” by attending all of his appointments with his probation officer and being open about his criminal activities, including dealing drugs while in custody.

“Rehabilitation must be considered,” she said. An 18-year period of parole ineligibility “would be counterproductive if there is any hope of incentivizing him to a path of rehabilitation.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca