Jail time for pharmacist in hitman case: Judge
Justice Joseph Di Luca told Doug Shier to get his affairs in order because the long-time Peterborough pharmacist is going to jail in the fall.
“It won’t be a pleasant time but you’ll get through it,” Di Luca said in Superior Court of Justice in Peterborough on Wednesday.
The Crown and defence teams are five years apart on how long they believe Shier should spend behind bars for trying to have his ex-partner killed by a hitman. The hitman turned out to be an undercover police officer and Shier was arrested and charged in 2016 with conspiracy to commit murder.
He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of counselling to commit murder earlier this year. He’ll be sentenced Sept. 26.
Shier’s defence team of Jeffrey Ayotte and Michael Gunsolus believe a three-year sentence is appropriate in Shier’s circumstances.
Ayotte said Di Luca is in a difficult position because he is being asked to sentence a good person who did a bad thing.
He added that his client’s decision has cost him much more than any sentence a court can hand down.
“He has a life sentence in other ways,” Ayotte said.
Ayotte’s submissions also included an overview of Shier’s 22-year relationship with his ex-partner, and reports from a counsellor and two psychiatrists.
According to court documents, the relationship was physically and emotionally abusive in nature. Because of that, Shier suffers from chronic anxiety and depression, according to psychiatrist Dr. Julian Gojer. The doctor testified Wednesday that he doesn’t see Shier posing a risk a to his ex-partner or anyone in the community anymore.
The prosecution team of Crown attorney Frank Schwalm and assistant Crown attorney Sam Humphrey are seeking an eightyear federal sentence. Schwalm said this isn’t a case where you need to throw away the key but the sentence needs to send a message.
“You can’t go around for your financial favour planning the killing of another human being and, more importantly, a former spouse,” Shwalm said.
Upset over a $6,000 monthly alimony payment, Shier set out to hire a hitman to kill his expartner, but Peterborough police learned of his plan through a confidential informant and sent an undercover officer into the pharmacy to give Shier the contact number for a supposed hitman.
“I want him dead,” Shier explained to an undercover officer in the Boston Pizza parking lot at Portage Place on Chemong Road in the winter of 2016. The undercover police officer, who Shier thought was a hitman named Shane, responded by asking Shier if he wanted his ex in the morgue, six feet under.
“Preferably, yeah,” Shier explained, noting in the same conversation that he wanted his ex’s body found quickly so he could stop paying the alimony.
A price of $15,000 with a deposit of 10 per cent was agreed upon, and Shier told the undercover officer the price was fair because the last person he contacted to do the job wanted $50,000 with a 50 per cent down payment.
Four days later, Shier and Shane met again and Shier paid him a $1,500 deposit in cash. The undercover officer offered Shier an opportunity to back out of the agreement, but he declined. Shane indicated his target would die in a couple of days.
Two days later, on Feb. 26,
2016, Shier was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and counselling to commit murder.