Man who killed off-duty police officer appealing ‘manifestly excessive’ sentence

Christopher Garnier was convicted of second-degree murder in death of Catherine Campbell

A Halifax man who strangled an off-duty police officer and used a compost bin to dispose of her body is appealing his sentence, calling it “manifestly excessive.”

Christopher Garnier was convicted in December of seconddegree murder and interfering with a dead body in the death of 36-year-old Catherine Campbell.

The conviction carries an automatic life sentence, but a Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice ruled last month that Garnier would be able to apply for parole after serving 13 and a half years — less 699 days for time served.

A notice of appeal filed last Thursday says Justice Joshua Arnold imposed a “manifestly excessive sentence.”

“The sentencing judge failed to properly take into account the circumstances of the appellant and over-emphasized the aggravating factor of the improper interference with a human body in determining parole ineligibility,” the document said.

“Such other grounds of appeal... may be revealed after a review of the transcript evidence.”

The document, signed by Garnier, also said: “I desire to present my case and argument in person.”

“At the conclusion of the appeal the appellant will request a reduction in sentence,” it said.

Garnier, 30, had earlier appealed his conviction, in part because he says police interview tactics elicited a false confession.

Meanwhile, outrage has been building over Veterans Affairs Canada’s decision to pay for treatment for Garnier’s PTSD — a mental illness his lawyer had argued was brought on by the murder.

At a court hearing last month, a Crown lawyer confirmed Garnier was being seen by a private psychologist, and that Veterans Affairs was covering the cost because his father is a veteran who has also been diagnosed with PTSD.

Veterans Affairs says relatives of veterans are eligible to apply for PTSD treatment, and Minister Seamus O’Regan has said he would be “looking into how and why this decision was made.”

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil has questioned the department’s justification, and federal Conservative shadow critic Phil McColeman has called it an “absolute travesty.”

In handing down his sentencing decision on Aug. 14, Arnold noted that Garnier and Campbell met for the first time at a downtown Halifax bar, and hours later she was dead in a north end apartment.