Paul Connolly gets 101/2-year jail term
Last of four men sentenced in relation to 2016 killing of Steven Miller of C.B.S.
It was a “gangland-style” killing, judges have said of the death of Steven Miller, and the fourth man who played a role in it was sentenced Wednesday to more than a decade behind bars.
Paul Connolly deserved a sentence for manslaughter greater than what two of his co-accused received, Justice Donald Burrage of Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court said, given he is older and has a far lengthier criminal record, with 172 prior convictions.
Connolly earned some of them in custody since he’s been on remand in connection with Miler’s 2016 homicide.
“Her Majesty’s Penitentiary is far from ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood,’ but Mr. Connolly is not a model inmate,” Burrage said.
Connolly, Chesley Lucas and Calvin Kenny had the intention of doing a drug “rip” — a robbery — when they forced their way into the Conception Bay South home Miller shared with his brother and his brother’s girlfriend around 4 a.m. on July 30, 2016. Miller’s brother was out of town at the time. They dragged Miller out of his bedroom and assaulted him, leaving with him after one of the men poured gasoline around the living room and set it alight.
Multiple 911 calls were made that night, including one from Connolly, gasping for air, and another in which a group of men could be heard yelling.
“Get the f--- up, we are going to bring you to the hospital, man, you got stabbed in the heart, come on,” one of them was heard saying.
In another call, Kenny told the operator he had picked up an injured man on the side of the road and gave an address near where Miller’s body was located in a driveway hours later.
An autopsy determined Miller, 25, had died of blood loss due to a number of injuries, most significantly a stab wound to the chest.
Connolly also sustained serious injuries that night and underwent emergency surgery, losing half of a kidney. Burrage rejected the defence’s argument that Connolly’s injuries were a mitigating factor, saying Connolly had been the author of his own misfortune.
“It’s like killing one’s parents and then seeking leniency on the grounds that you’re now an orphan,” the judge said, noting Connolly had received medical treatment for his injuries, but Miller had not.
The fact that Connolly had called 911 was also not relevant, Burrage determined, since he may have been calling for help for himself.
Still, the judge ruled, Connolly may still have the potential to rehabilitate.
“His counsel rightly stated, ‘Hope never dies.’ I agree.” Burrage said. “I also agree that the birth of Mr. Connolly’s daughter while (he was) on remand for these charges may indeed be the source of such hope.
“When it comes to sentencing, I accept that there is hope for Mr. Connolly, however dim it may appear at times, and I am prepared to accept that he remains capable of turning his life around.”
Kenny and Lucas were each sentenced in 2018 to a total of 12 ½ years in prison for manslaughter, robbery, forcible confinement and arson. Kenny died in February 2019 while serving his sentence, and a fellow inmate at Atlantic Institution in Renous, N.B., has been charged with his murder. Lucas appealed his sentence, but lost.
A fourth man, Kyle Morgan, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter and was sentenced in 2017 to a year behind bars.
Prosecutors Tannis King and Richard Deveau were seeking a jail term of between 10 ½ and 11 ½ years for Connolly, who had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, robbery, forcible confinement and court order breaches.
Defence lawyers Jeff Brace and Mark Gruchy wanted a sentence of 9 1/2 to 10 years.
Burrage sentenced Connolly to a total of 10 ½ years in prison. Subtracting remand credit, Connolly has about three years and nine months left to serve.
“I think it’s a fair sentence overall, and I think it’s a good sentence, personally, given what can happen in certain jurisdictions with offences of this nature,” Gruchy told reporters after court was adjourned. “It’s a very serious crime. At the end of the day, I think it’s quite fair.”
Deveau said Miller’s family had chosen not to attend court, though they had been kept up-to-date with how things were unfolding. Their victim impact statements, read into the court record earlier in the week, detailed the grief and anguish they have experienced since Miller’s death and explained how their lives have been destroyed as a result.
“I think it’s safe to say they wanted this to end, and I think rightly so,” Deveau told reporters. “It’s been a long five years for everyone involved, for the family and even for ourselves, so we are satisfied that it’s over and the outcome is what we wanted.”
Deveau and Gruchy agreed the judges’ “gangland killing” characterization was an appropriate one in this case and stressed its targeted nature.
“We know from the facts that, at the end of the day, this was not a random incident,” Deveau said. “We should all be aware of the fact that this happens, and can happen, in our communities, but I also think that most Newfoundlanders lead a life that they’re not going to be subject to that kind of incident in their home.”