Bilijk man gets 10 years for manslaughter
Francis Gabriel Solomon Jr., 38, was under influence of booze, cocaine when he shot his friend James Paul in face at close range in fall of 2021
Warning: This article includes a graphic description of a fatal gunshot wound that some may find disturbing.
A Bilijk (Kingsclear) First Nation man who shot and killed a close friend as they were about to go hunting has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter.
Francis Gabriel Solomon Jr., 38, of Porcupine Court, was originally charged with second-degree murder in the Sept. 13, 2021, killing of James Paul, 40, also of Bilijk First Nation, but he pleaded guilty in the Court of King’s Bench in February to the lesser, included offence of manslaughter.
Solomon was back at the Burton Courthouse on Wednesday for his sentencing hearing. Almost a dozen of Paul’s family members and loved ones were in attendance for the proceedings.
Crown prosecutor Rebecca Butler and defence lawyer Mathieu Boutet presented a joint recommendation on sentence: 10 years in prison.
Justice Terrence Morrison noted that several victim-impact statements were filed with the court for consideration.
Though none of the victims read those statements aloud in court, Butler pointed out how they all paint the same picture: of a family devastated by an inexplicable loss.
“They all indicated that their lives have permanently changed,” she said.
While some refer to the loss of employment, finances and a sense of security, the prosecutor, the thread running through all of the victims’ statements is how they just haven’t been able to enjoy their lives since Paul was killed.
Morrison said the victim-impact statement of Tamara Barrett, Paul’s spouse, indicated her life has been turned upside down.
“She reports having lost everything, including her partner and the family home,” he said.
Butler noted Paul’s mother now finds herself without someone on whom she relied in her golden years to help her around the house.
“Not only has she lost a son, she’s lost a significant support figure in her life,” the prosecutor said.
The victims are also concerned that when the day comes when Solomon is released from prison, he’ll be returning to the Bilijk First Nation, Butler said.
Shocking crime
When Solomon pleaded guilty to manslaughter Feb. 24, an agreed statement of facts was filed with the court, signed by both lawyers and the offender.
In that statement, Solomon admitted he shot Paul in the right cheek with a 300 Winchester Magnum rifle as they were both in a pickup truck on a dirt road in Allendale, about 10 kilometres south of Nackawic, on Sept. 13, 2021.
Present with Solomon and Paul was another friend, Trevor Sacobie.
The offender, who’d been drinking and using cocaine that day, was loading his rifle in the truck.
“While they were driving, Mr. Sacobie noted that the accused had the gun barrel resting on the middle console of the truck,” the agreed statement said.
“Moments before the accused fired the gun, Mr. Sacobie heard [Solomon] say, ‘You shouldn’t have fucking talked about me on Facebook.’”
Then Solomon pulled the trigger, and the close-range shot “burst open” Paul’s face and skull, rendering him unrecognizable.
Sacobie jumped out of the moving truck and fled on foot, eventually making his way to a highway where he flagged down a passerby for help.
Solomon, meanwhile, retreated on foot into the woods, court heard, and he planned to end his own life.
He didn’t do so and was arrested the next morning, the agreed statement said.
“The accused stated he had no real reason to shoot Mr. Paul and that he didn’t know what came over him.” the document states.
Aggravating versus mitigating factors
Butler said the profound effects the violent crime has had on Paul’s loved ones are undeniable, and they represent a serious aggravating factor in the case. So does the senseless nature of the crime, she said.
“There’s no reason. There’s nothing that provoked the shooting,” the prosecutor said.
Other aggravating elements for the court to consider are Solomon’s prior criminal record and the fact he fled the scene of the killing, she said.
However, Butler said, those issues have to be balanced with the mitigating factors, such as Solomon’s guilty plea, clear sense of remorse and co-operation with police after his arrest.
Boutet said his client’s pre-sentence report detailed how his Indigenous heritage and historical trauma haunted his family and affected him.
Court heard Solomon’s grandparents moved to a First Nation community in the United States to avoid the ‘60s Scoop in Canada, and that inflicted a lasting trauma on the family.
Solomon’s parents abused alcohol and drugs, the defence lawyer said, and his client was subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse during his childhood.
That has manifested as a substance-abuse issue for Solomon as well, Boutet said.
He said the characterization of Solomon’s actions immediately after the shooting as an attempt to flee wasn’t entirely accurate.
“For all intents and purposes, he was going to end his life,” Boutet said.
For some reason, though, Solomon didn’t do that, the defence lawyer said, and instead, he co-operated with RCMP officers and gave a full confession.
Court also heard Solomon has mental-health issues and was off his prescribed medication at the time of the fatal shooting.
Boutet said while the offender has a prior criminal history, it’s dated and was far less serious in nature, amounting to a summary assault and a threat conviction. It’s clear the violence that he wrought upon Paul on that back road almost two years ago was an aberration for Solomon, the defence lawyer said.
Court heard Solomon considered Paul a close friend, and he doesn’t know why he shot him.
Butler and Boutet both cited precedents in briefs filed with the court that showed a 10-year prison term was within the established range for similar manslaughter cases.
“This was a tragedy for all concerned,” Morrison said. “As evidenced by the victim-impact statements, Mr. Paul’s family has been shattered.”
He accepted the jointly recommended sentence, noting that manslaughter sentences in excess of 10 years tend to be reserved for offenders with more serious criminal records or in cases in which there’s evidence of intentional harm.
“The joint recommendation is not unreasonable,” the judge said, noting the Supreme Court of Canada has directed that such recommendations should only be rejected if they’re deemed to be wildly outside established ranges of sentences or if they’ll bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
Morrison imposed the 10-year prison term, but noted it’s to be reduced to give Solomon 1½ days’ credit for every day he’s served on remand since his arrest.
The offender has been in custody for about 21 months, making his remand credit a little more than 2½ years.
The judge told Solomon his time in prison is an opportunity to address his issues and to straighten his life out, and he urged him to avail himself of treatment programs.
Morrison also issued mandatory orders requiring the rifle and ammunition used in the crime forfeited to the Crown, barring Solomon from possessing firearms and other weapons for 10 years after his release from prison, and requiring him to submit a DNA sample for inclusion in a criminal database.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
10 years for killing someone. Crazy and he will be out before the 10 years is up.