Drug trafficker sentenced for beating man to death
A Grande Prairie drug trafficker who helped beat a man to death with a pipe was sentenced to 71/2 years in prison for manslaughter Wednesday.
Tommy Paul, 33, pleaded guilty in Edmonton earlier this month to the 2015 killing of Adrian Snider. Paul was one of four people charged in the death.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice John Gill granted Paul enhanced credit for 53 months already spent in custody, leaving him about three years to serve.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Paul, Snider and Dominic Decque were all involved in a drug-trafficking operation run by Decque’s brother, Patrick Decque, out of a Grande Prairie duplex.
Patrick Decque came to suspect Snider had stolen $11,500 and a gun from him, and on March 12, 2015, gave his brother a pair of handcuffs and a metal pipe and told him to deal with Snider, court heard.
The next day, while all the men were high on cocaine, Dominic Decque instructed Paul to assist him, and Paul picked up the pipe and struck Snider in the head three times. Dominic Decque struck him two more times. Paul then obeyed a direction to handcuff Snider, but became concerned when it appeared Snider wasn’t breathing and attempted to give him chest compressions.
Patrick Decque arrived and, finding Snider deceased, orchestrated the cleanup of the scene. The next day, they buried Snider’s body naked in a field.
Prosecutors argued for a sentence of 10 years, while defence lawyer Daniel Song said six years would be appropriate, arguing Paul was following orders as the lowest in the “hierarchy” of the house.
“Mr. Paul is obedient, pliable. He is sheeplike,” Song said.
In making his decision, Gill said he took into account the findings of a Gladue report — an examination of factors in an Indigenous person’s background.
Gill said the report detailed how Paul was subjected to sexual and other types of abuse as a child, that he suffered from addiction issues as a teen, and was directly affected by intergenerational trauma related to residential schools.
He also said Paul’s guilty plea, his remorse and his efforts to save Snider were taken into account.
Court heard Snider’s family found it too difficult to attend the hearing.
“Not a day passes where I don’t visualize how my defenceless son was killed,” his father, Gregory Snider, wrote in a victim impact statement. The father recalled some of the happier times he spent with his only child, who was the best man at his wedding.
“You ended his life and his chance to be a better man,” the father wrote.