Sentence handed down in triple stabbing

An eight-year jail sentence was handed down to a man who pled guilty to a triple stabbing, robbery and dangerous police chase — although 38 months is considered served due to pretrial custody.

The “night of rage and mayhem,” caused by Jacob Lucien Shevchenko is still causing pain to the victims two years later, said Judge Eric Brooks during sentencing Wednesday at the Medicine Hat Courthouse, while the lack of fatalities is a testament to the ability of healthcare providers and law enforcement.

The string of incidents took place on Sept. 28, 2014., when Shevchenko was staying at his half-brother’s residence shared by two other roommates. While drinking in the early morning, Shevchenko became agitated for no apparent reason, grabbed a knife and started stabbing the roommate. This attack severed the roommate’s jugular — and when the brother and other roommate attempted to intervene, they were also attacked, with one stabbed in the chest and the other underneath the arm area.

Shevchenko fled to Elkwater where he stole a grain truck. He returned to the city, robbed two men of cash and threatened them with a sledgehammer. He then used the grain truck to back into the men’s vehicles. During an ensuing chase by police, Shevchenko reversed the grain truck and smashed it into the hood of a police vehicle. Police finally arrested him just before 10 a.m. the same day.

Shevchenko’s actions were “unacceptable, unprovoked, and largely unexplained,” said Brooks, adding that it wasn’t just innocent people hurt but Good Samaritans who attempted to intervene.

Shevchenko had apologized for what he had done during the sentencing hearing, but chose not to say anything more at Wednesday’s sentencing, except that he was tired of waiting and wanted to be sentenced.

While in custody, Shevchenko underwent various assessments — including one by a medical professional that diagnosed him with substance-induced bipolar disorder.

A Gladue Report was also filed, due to Shevchenko’s aboriginal background — he grew up in a small community in the Yukon “full of promise” but fell into an “all too common pattern of substance abuse,” noted Brooks while discussing his decision, noting Shevchenko also had to be sent to a boarding school 200 kilometres away from family and support to complete his high school, an experience similar to residential schools.

His defence counsel argued that support Shevchenko has from his family and community, as well as lack of long criminal record, make for his chances of rehabilitation strong.