The victim of a drug-related murder is being remembered as a big-hearted young man who did not deserve his untimely death.
Jordan Taylor McLeod was just 24 years old when he was shot to death on the night of Jan. 16, 2015 after he jumped out of a moving pickup truck just as it had turned onto Upper Fraser Road from Highway 16 to escape his assailants.
Found guilty of second-degree murder, Darren Cayley Daniel Sundman, 36, and Sebastian Blake Martin, 45, were respectively sentenced Thursday to 16 and 13 years without eligibility to apply for parole while Kurtis Riley Sundman, 29, was sentenced to a further seven years seven months and 15 days for manslaughter.
McLeod's father, Earl, described his son as a "great kid" who was "big hearted" and always willing to help.
"He bought a snowblower just before he was killed," he said. "And you know, what he was happy about was that he could go over to the neighbour lady's place and snowblow her driveway for her. That was what meant the most to him."
McLeod was involved in the drug trade, he acknowledged.
"He might have been doing some things although we don't know at what level, no one does because he was never on the radar to anybody, even the RCMP," he said.
"The people he was dealing with obviously were well known. They've been convicted many, many times of very violent things."
In contrast, he said Jordan McLeod "meant no harm to anyone, he never has. I've never seen him raise a finger towards anything. He was just not a mean person."
With 16 friends and family of McLeod looking on from one side of the courtroom, while the Sundmans' mother and five friends and family of Martin sitting on the other side, B.C. Supreme Court Justice James Williams took slightly more than an hour to deliver his reasons for the sentencings.
"To say the facts and circumstances surrounding this case are sad would be a tremendous understatement," he commented and added McLeod's life was "ended in a cruel and senseless way."
Sundmans and Martin have also destroyed their own lives, Williams said.
"The stark reality is this: Absolutely no good, no happiness comes from any of this and when I'm finished this morning there will be no winners," he said. "The hurt and the harm will not magically go away."
In reviewing the circumstances, Williams said the Sundmans, Martin, McLeod and a key witness at the subsequent trial, Stacey Stevenson, were in a pickup truck heading east on Highway 16 after the men had tried to collect a drug debt at a home on the Saik'uz reserve south of Vanderhoof earlier that day.
Kurtis Sundman drove the truck, while McLeod sat in the front passenger seat with Darren Sundman behind him, Stevenson in the middle rear and Martin in the driver's side rear. Both Sundmans were armed with handguns while Martin held a shotgun between his legs and McLeod and Stevenson were unarmed.
While the precise details are not known, Williams said Darren Sundman held some grievances against McLeod and began striking him on the side of the head with his handgun. Kurtis Sundman, meanwhile, taunted McLeod as he sped the truck along the highway.
McLeod did not fight back and was only able to escape his tormentors when the truck was was slowed to turn onto Upper Fraser Road. But Kurtis Sundman quickly pulled the truck over and the trio went after McLeod while Stevenson remained in the truck.
Williams found Darren Sundman shot McLeod three times before Martin fired twice, killing McLeod almost instantly. As to how Martin came into the role he did, Williams said he was perplexed but was unable to "ascribe any great credence" to the claim he was somehow coerced into the situation.
From there, they put McLeod in the back of the truck and drove to the Kaykay Forest Service Road west of the city and dumped his body.
Martin was later dropped off at his home in Saik'uz and, with Stevenson in tow, they drove the car McLeod had rented for the drive out to Vanderhoof and drove it south before ditching it and setting it on fire near the Quesnel River.
The Sundmans and Stevenson were arrested the next day following a failed attempt to steal an ATV in Quesnel that led to a police chase.
McLeod's body was found about a month later while, after some initial apprehension, Stevenson cooperated with police.
In being found guilty of second-degree murder, Darren Sundman and Martin were automatically issued life sentences. At issue was how much time they must serve before they can apply for parole and if parole is granted, they will remain under supervision for the rest of their lives, Williams said.
Crown had been seeking 13 to 17 years for both of them while defence argued for 10 to 12 years in the case of Sundman and 12 years in the case of Martin.
As for Kurtis Sundman, he was sentenced to 12 years but received credit of four years four months and 15 days, based on 1 1/2 days for each day in custody prior to sentencing.
Crown had also argued for 13 to 17 years for Kurtis Sundman while defence sought seven to nine years less time served.
Williams said the case "demonstrates quite vividly the enormously destructive effect of the activities of the drug subculture" in which "life is treated as cheap and harm abounds."
"Make no mistake, it is a cruel, nasty and destructive environment."
