The lawyer said despite Saddleback's history of crime and substance abuse, he was ready to turn his life around, particularly since the birth of his first child 13 months ago.
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Convicted killer Shay Vincent Saddleback vowed Thursday that his criminal days are behind him.
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Saddleback, 26, who has a lengthy history of substance abuse and violent crimes, told Justice Glen Poelman he intends to turn his life around.
“This’ll be the last time you’ll see me in this courtroom,” Saddleback said, shortly before the Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench judge accepted a joint Crown and defence submission for a five-year sentence.
With credit for so-called dead time on remand, plus an additional deduction for spending most of the pandemic under COVID-19 lockdown, Saddleback will have about another year and a half of custody to serve.
And because that remaining time was less than two years, Poelman was able to accept the recommendation from defence counsel Andrea Urquhart and Crown prosecutor Rose Greenwood that Saddleback serve three years of probation once he’s released.
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Poelman noted Saddleback, 26, who grew up on the Samson Reserve in central Alberta, experienced extreme trauma growing up, which included witnessing violent deaths and being forced into alcohol abuse and violence by older males.
“He was, unfortunately traumatized by witnessing a number of violent deaths in his community, most particularly the woman who was shot by an errant bullet,” the judge said.
Urquhart, in detailing Saddleback’s tragic background, told court that in 2008, while visiting a female friend, he watched in horror as a stray bullet from her basement struck her in the face, killing her instantly.
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The lawyer said despite Saddleback’s history of crime and substance abuse, he was ready to turn his life around, particularly since the birth of his first child 13 months ago.
Urquhart said because of restrictions on visitation at the Calgary Remand Centre because of COVID-19, her client has yet to meet the son born while he was behind bars.
She said Saddleback’s history also included the trauma of both his parents spending time at a residential school in their youth.
Saddleback pleaded guilty two weeks ago to a reduced charge of manslaughter in the May 10, 2020 death of Justin Applegarth, whom he knew from his days growing up in Mackwacis. He had been charged with second-degree murder.
Both men were parts of rival groups from the central Alberta community when they had a chance meeting outside a southeast Calgary 7-Eleven store.
They got into a fight outside the store and during the altercation Saddleback stabbed Applegarth, 27, twice, once in the lower neck/upper left shoulder, and the other to his lower chest/upper abdomen.
On Twitter: @KMartinCourts
Five-year sentence handed to killer for fatal southeast Calgary stabbing - Calgary Herald
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