Convicted killer sentenced for hostage-taking incidents
A convicted killer who twice held fellow inmates hostage — using a ripped pop can and a pair of eyeglasses — was sentenced to 10 years on Friday.
Serena Nicotine, 31, was sentenced to fiveyear terms for two hostage-taking incidents earlier this year.
Judge Shelagh Creagh expressed reservations before accepting the joint submission, which won’t give Nicotine any extra time, but will affect her chances of future parole.
“This is a surprising sentence,” Creagh said. “On first blush it seems to be very low, if not generous.”
The first of the two incidents happened on Feb. 21 at the Edmonton Institution for Women. Nicotine tore a pop can in half, then held a jagged edge against another inmate’s throat for nearly four hours.
Nicotine wanted changes to her medication, she told negotiators, as well as transfer to another prison and a stereo for her cell. She told her hostage she’d slice open her throat, pressing the metal harder into her neck as she became increasingly frustrated with the talks.
“I will slit her throat and you will have that memory for the rest of your life,” she told negotiators. “I will turn my back and plug my ears and not hear her scream.”
Nicotine eventually released her prisoner after she was told she could have a meeting with her doctor the next day.
Three months later after a court appearance, Nicotine grabbed one of three other prisoners in a basement cell at the Edmonton courthouse. She threw her prisoner to the cell floor, held her in a reverse chokehold, then grabbed the woman’s glasses, holding a snapped arm of the glasses against her throat.
“This is a hostage taking!” Nicotine yelled, repeatedly telling sheriffs she would “cut her jug” if they tried anything.
“I have nothing to lose,” she said. “I’m in for murder and I have been in jail since I was 15 years old.”
Despite demands for a transfer to a Quebec prison, Ritalin, cigarettes, pizza and pop, Edmonton police negotiators peacefully ended the situation in two hours.
Since her 1999 murder conviction for killing a North Battleford group home worker, Nicotine has been convicted in five previous hostage-takings in four different prisons.
Dressed in black with her hands and legs chained, a relaxed Nicotine blinked and watched and promptly responded to questions. For security reasons, she was not allowed to sign the agreed statement of facts.
Her lawyer, George Isshak, expressed disbelief that Nicotine continues to try to use hostages, despite her lack of success. Courts have previously heard Nicotine has severe fetal alcohol syndrome and had a very violent childhood. “There are some serious mental health issues here,” Isshak said. “It does blow my mind that she does have five previous convictions.”
Although Creagh wasn’t pleased with the sentence, she noted court transcripts would be part of future hearings into Nicotine’s release. So she addressed future parole boards directly, asking them to “exercise care and concern” when considering her release.