Ex-partner gets eight years in death of Estevan teacher

SASKATOON Nathan Russell Mullen said he has no memory of choking 27-year-old teacher Leslie Dwyre to death during an argument in their Estevan apartment.

Mullen told court the last thing he recalled was Dwyre kicking him in the head. His next memory was seeing his former spouse dead on their bedroom floor, he said.

A forensic pathologist determined Mullen asphyxiated Dwyre by pressing his arm on her throat — a fact on which the Crown and defence agreed.

Mullen turned himself in to Estevan police after the incident on April 21, 2014. The 33-year-old was initially charged with seconddegree murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter late last year, admitting that his actions caused Dwyre’s death, but that he did not have the intention required for murder.

He received an eight-year sentence in an Estevan courtroom last month. The Crown had argued for 10 years, categorizing the incident as a near murder due to “high moral fault.” The defence argued for a sentence in the range of four to seven years, saying Mullen acted impulsively after being attacked and did not mean to kill Dwyre.

Dwyre and Mullen moved from Ontario to Estevan in 2012 for Dwyre’s teaching job. They were in the process of separating leading up to Dwyre’s death, court heard during Mullen’s sentencing.

The former couple had been arguing over the damage deposit for their apartment on the night Dwyre died, Mullen told the writer of a pre-sentence report. He said both he and Dwyre had separately consumed alcohol that night, although it’s not believed Mullen was intoxicated.

Mullen blamed the victim for “pushing his buttons” and alleged Dwyre had been abusive to him in the past. However, the pre-sentence report writer found “no documented history to support Mr. Mullen’s claims of being a victim within the relationship.”

A 2009 complaint alleged Mullen was the aggressor in a domestic situation with a previous romantic partner. While his actual criminal record does not include violence, it shows an inability to manage his anger — something Justice Janet McMurtry listed as an aggravating factor in her sentencing decision.

Manslaughter sentences in Saskatchewan generally fall between four and 12 years. A 10-year sentence would not be appropriate in this case because similar manslaughter sentences have involved prolonged, brutal attacks, McMurtry reasoned.

However, she said the act was still life-threatening and dangerous, and requires a sentence that emphasizes deterrence.