Man who killed 5 deserves lowest possible sentence: defence

WINNIPEG — Lawyers for a man convicted of murdering five people in a Langside Street drug house have urged a judge to impose the most lenient sentence allowed by law, arguing he was manipulated into a homicidal rage by his father and brother.

“It was his family that provided him all the necessary ingredients for this atrocity,” Jamie Felix’s lawyer Ted Mariash told Court of King’s Bench Justice Alain Huberdeau at a sentencing hearing Thursday.

Felix, 35, was convicted after trial last winter of five counts of second-degree murder in the November 2023 killings. Melelek Lesikel, 29, Crystal Beardy, 34, her sister Stephanie Beardy, 33, and Dylan Lavallee, 41, all died at the scene or in hospital a short time later. All four had been shot in the head. Shawn Marko, 56, was shot three times and died in hospital from pneumonia, a result of complications from his gunshot wounds, 18 months later.

Mariash recommended Huberdeau sentence Felix to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years, the minimum period allowed by law. On Tuesday, Crown prosecutors called on Huberdeau to sentence Felix to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, the same sentence for first-degree murder.

Mariash argued that the unique circumstances of the case — including Felix’s minimal prior criminal record and the absence of any prior plan by Felix to arm himself — support the more lenient sentence.

“Yes, five people died,” Mariash said. “Notwithstanding that, it is open to you to impose the minimum period of parole ineligibility.”

“There were a constellation of factors in this case that were so rare that it is a virtual certainty they will never present themselves again,” he said.

The Crown argued at trial that Felix was driven by paranoia after spending three days drinking and smoking crack at the house.

Jurors heard evidence that on the night of the killings, Felix was joined by his father, Randolph “Chummy” Fagnan, and brother Kyle Houle, both of whom were associated with the gang that operated the “crack shack.”

In front of others in the suite, Felix’s brother gave him a handgun and a bulletproof vest to wear.

Security video captured Felix and Fagnan walking outside to the back lane, where, prosecutors alleged, Fagnan had Felix fire the handgun.

The men returned to the crack house and Felix opened fire on the victims.

“But for Mr. Fagnan’s and Mr. Houle’s decision to arm Mr. Felix with a firearm, would Mr. Felix have committed these crimes?” Mariash said. “We say the answer to that question is obvious and that answer is no.”

At trial, Felix’s girlfriend testified he had confessed: “I killed people.”

The woman testified Felix had relapsed before the shooting and didn’t want to be at the crack house, “but thought he had nowhere else to go … He said he didn’t feel safe there.”

Felix, who spent several years in the military, believed his father and brother “used (him) as a weapon,” the woman testified.

Court heard evidence Felix was as young as 10 when his father, who died in January, introduced him to drugs and alcohol and used him as a “drug mule.”

Felix’s struggles with addiction deepened following the 2012 slaying of his twin brother, Johnathen Felix, during a drug deal, court was told.

Felix’s father exploited his addiction struggles and encouraged his involvement in crime, Mariash argued.

“That encouraged criminality began early and continued right up until the commission of these (murders),” Mariash said.

“We submit the more you look at it, the harder it is to escape the probable conclusion that Mr. Fagnan was deliberately trying to provoke a profound state of confusion in Mr. Felix,” Mariash said, describing Fagnon’s influence on Felix as “cancerous.”

Felix frequently resisted his father’s influence and for long stretches of his life “attempted to walk a different path,” Mariash said. While in custody, Felix has continued writing what he called a ‘booklet of hope,’ a guide for people trying to recover from addiction and trauma.

“This is not someone who simply said: ‘Oh, I want change’ and does nothing else about it,” Mariash said. “This shows … that Mr. Felix when he says I am going to do that, he does it.”

Huberdeau will sentence Felix at a later date.

Huberdeau said it may be some time before he can deliver his decision as he is scheduled to preside over another multi-week trial “in the very near future.”

“I will endeavour to provide you with my reasons as soon as possible,” he said. “I appreciate everyone is anxious for my decision.”

» Winnipeg Free Press