Delusions led to beating, judge told
Man who pulled victim from wheelchair gets seven years for vicious attack in 2017
As Justin James Crowe dragged Robert Carignan from his wheelchair, stomped on his body and told him “You’re going to die today,” he said he believed Carignan was someone from his past who had been following him.
In fact, the 58-year-old information technology specialist was a complete stranger out with his beagle, Molly, in downtown Saskatoon — something he often did before heading to work.
Crowe was having delusions — exacerbated by alcohol — that “warped” his mind, defence lawyer Carl Swenson told a Saskatoon provincial courtroom. He said his client doesn’t recall much about last summer’s assault but does remember thinking Carignan was someone he wanted to “completely erase.”
Crowe, 26, was charged with attempted murder but pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for beating Carignan near 23rd Street and Spadina Crescent on July 23, 2017.
It was 7:30 a.m. when Carignan heard screaming and saw a man emerge behind him from along the riverbank, Crown prosecutor Sandeep Bains said, reading out the facts of the case.
The man threw him out of his wheelchair and stomped on his knees, arms and head. Crowe ran when people stopped to help Carignan.
Some were able to describe Crowe to police, leading to his arrest nearby.
Carignan said he was unconscious and wouldn’t have been able to identify Crowe. Without those citizens, the crime could have gone unsolved, Bains noted.
“But for the intervention of passersby, this could easily be a murder charge,” Judge Barry Morgan said.
Carignan was in hospital for 88 days with a fractured skull, jaw and shin.
Although he believed he was going to die, partly because Crowe kept telling him so, the Crown accepts Crowe used those words “in the rage of his assault” and did not intend to kill Carignan, Bains said.
Agreeing a plea of aggravated assault was appropriate, the Crown and defence jointly proposed a sentence of seven years, which Morgan imposed. Crowe has five-and-a-half years left to serve with credit for his time spent on remand.
Morgan said the sentence takes into account both the severe, senseless attack and the Gladue factors present in Crowe’s life.
Crowe was removed from his parent’s home when he was five, but said he clearly remembers his parents drinking, fighting and abandoning him at home.
“He doesn’t remember a time when they were smiling or happy,” Swenson told court.
He said Crowe disclosed that he was sexually abused by a family member and that older boys forced him to have sex with girls when he was around eight years old.
At 14, Crowe started using drugs to deal with the death of loved ones, his abuse and his mistrust for adults and the world around him, Swenson said. When he attacked Carignan, Crowe was attempting to quell his delusions with alcohol, which only made them worse, court heard.
Swenson said Crowe often perceives threats that don’t exist.
“His continued use of drugs, specifically cannabis, his lack of intellectual and emotional development stemming from that home life and the abandonment may be contributing to some of his delusions of mistrust.”
Psychiatrists diagnosed Crowe as having substance abuse disorder but determined he was fit to stand trial. Swenson said Crowe acknowl- edges what he did was wrong and wants help. He is now on medication and doing well in custody, Swenson added.
Morgan asked Crowe if he had anything to say to his victim. Crowe apologized, prompting Carignan to speak out from the gallery.
“Justin, I don’t have any animosity to you,” he said.
“I want you to have a good life. I lost my son to mental illness so I know your struggle. I want you to get better, OK?”
“OK,” Crowe replied. Earlier in the hearing, Bains praised Carignan, who has a debilitating illness called Kennedy’s Disease, for his perseverance and positivity.
“He’s an example to us all.”