A 62-year-old man who had raped and killed two Toronto women nearly 40 years ago but was only caught recently was sentenced Friday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 21 years.
Crown prosecutors had asked that Mr. Sutherland serve about 22 years in prison before he could be considered eligible for parole. Defence lawyers had urged that he be eligible at 18 years. “I find that the aggravating features – including the vulnerability of the victims, the violations of their homes, and their bodies, and the brutal nature of the killings – call for a period of parole ineligibility that will clearly denounce the conduct and deter others.”
The defence filed a report saying that Mr. Sutherland was born in Fort Albany, Ont., a fly-in Cree community on James Bay. When his father died, he was seven years old and made to attend the Sisters of St. Anne’s residential school, where an unnamed teacher used to routinely choke him and other students. .