Man convicted of first-degree murder in abduction, beating death of Hamilton man
A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison in connection with the death of a man who was abducted from Stoney Creek and his body dumped in rural Niagara in 2017.
Kyle Firlotte appeared in Superior Court of Justice in St. Catharines Friday and was sentenced on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Johnathan Bailey.
Firlotte, a resident of Hamilton, will be eligible for parole in 25 years.
Bailey’s body was found Nov. 8, 2017, in a farmer’s field in rural West Lincoln. The 45-yearold Hamilton man had suffered what Niagara Regional Police referred to as “traumatic injuries.”
On Nov. 7, court was told, the victim had been attacked and abducted by two men at a parking lot in Stoney Creek. A spent roll of duct tape was found at the scene.
Court heard Firlotte had previously purchased drugs from Bailey and that the victim has “scammed” him out of a sum of money.
The defendant’s lawyer maintained the case was circumstantial and said his client only wanted to collect on an outstanding debt. He admitted the attack was “brutal, vicious and gratuitous,” but argued there was no intent to commit murder.
Bailey, court heard, suffered significant blows to his head and body by one or more weapons, including a machete.
The cause of death was determined to be a combination of multiple injuries, intoxication by fentanyl and cocaine, an enlarged heart, and hypothermia, or exposure to a cold environment.
A pathologist testified the multiple blunt force injuries and drugs alone were not fatal.
Being left in a field after sustaining the injuries, suffering a mild traumatic brain injury and with fentanyl in his system, combined with hypothermia could have adversely affected his enlarged heart and resulted in a fatal heart rhythm.
The Crown maintained Firlotte orchestrated and enacted a plan to attack, abduct and transport Bailey to a secluded rural area.
Judge A.J. Goodman conceded much of the evidence in the case was circumstantial, but that the defendant “subjectively intended to cause bodily harm that he knew was likely to cause Bailey’s death and was reckless whether Bailey died or not.”
“Firlotte was a sane and sober person and intended the natural consequence of his actions,” the judge said. “A reasonable inference is that this severe and brutal beating is evidence of the escalation of intensity of the attack and elevation to the requisite intent for murder.”
Bailey had been commended by police in 2009 for rescuing a 17-month-old boy who had been snatched by a man in a grocery store parking lot.