A Prince George man a jury found guilty of second-degree murder was described as a psychopath with a penchant for impulsive violence during a sentencing hearing Friday.
Crown prosecutor Sandra Dworkin argued Kevin Roy Zaporoski, 50, should spend 15-18 years in prison before he can be eligible to apply for parole while defence counsel Simon Buck contended 10-12 years is more appropriate.
In July, a jury found Zaporoski guilty of the count in the June 2012 death of Jordan Christian Reno, 22.
Co-accused Dustin Allen Lindgren, 29, and Lyle William Baker, 45, were found guilty of first-degree murder, which carries an automatic sentence of life in prison without eligibility to apply for parole for 25 years.
To convict someone of first-degree murder, the Crown must prove there was planning, while second-degree implies the act was committed on impulse.
During the trial, Dworkin submitted a plan to "work over" Reno escalating into a plot to murder him after he ended up in the middle of "serious conflicts" with a number of people in the city's drug scene.
Reno's body was found in a box in the back of Baker's 4100-block Knight Crescent property. A pathologist found Reno had died from blunt force trauma to his head but he was also bound and gagged and his body was wrapped in plastic from head to foot.
On Friday, Dworkin relied extensively pre-sentence reports completed in 2014 in relation to a conviction for break and enter to steal a firearm. A psychiatrist found Zaporoski had a psychopathic personality disorder and showed a high risk of impulsively committing violent offences. The disorder was characterized by "superficial charm, grandiosity, pathological lying, lack of remorse."
Dworkin also noted Zaporoski's criminal record shows 60 convictions as an adult and at the time of the murder, he was on probation for assault. He's served two sentences in federal prison, the first for four years, issued in 1994, and the second for eight years, issued in 2001, both for armed robberies of jewelry stores.
His record includes seven convictions for assault and by the time Zaporoski was charged with Reno's murder in February 2015, he was back in custody after breaching the conditions of his release on the break and enter charge.
During the early morning of June 19, 2012, Zaporoski was seen on Baker's home video surveillance system and the two leaving a couple of hours later. At 5:50 a.m., they're seen on the video with Reno returning.
Images were also found of Zaporoski wearing a different shirt when he left on while small amounts of Reno's blood were found on a pair of jeans and on a pair of shoes identified as Zaporoski's and found in a garbage bag investigators retrieved.
Zaporoski returned to the property later the same day and early the next morning. Dworkin argued Zaporoski "callously" chose not to help Reno even though he was dying, instead spending his time walking around the yard cleaning up.
Defence counsel Simon Buck, argued 10-12 years is more appropriate, and in answer to Dworkin's account of Zaporoski's tendency toward violence, argued his client had taken steps to improve his behaviour. While there still have been episodes, Zaporoski's efforts "to a large measure succeeded."
Dworkin countered that Zaporoski nonetheless committed murder.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ron Tindale will issued a decision on sentencing later this month.
- Bradley Douglas Barr was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in jail for contempt of court after he refused to testify at the trial. In March, he was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in relation to the incident.
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