Sugar family relieved as pair convicted of murder
Hotomani, Wolfe apologize after being found guilty in 2016 death
In victim impact statements read at court on Wednesday, Ryan Daniel Sugar’s family recalled days of searching for the missing 31-yearold.
Younger sister Kelsey Sugar said family members searched the streets, hoping to catch sight of him.
Instead, on Oct. 11, 2016 — Kelsey’s birthday — they received the news they’d been dreading. Ryan had been found dead.
His body was discovered inside the back bedroom of 1555 Mctavish St., a house destroyed by fire a few days earlier, between Oct. 4 and 5. The investigation would reveal Ryan had suffered numerous injuries before ultimately dying of smoke inhalation.
Since that day, Ryan’s mother Jocelyn Sugar said the family has walked “a dark road of sadness, loneliness and broken hearts.”
Three people were ultimately charged, and on Wednesday, two of them were found guilty by a jury: 26-year-old Gregory James Wolfe of first-degree murder and 36-year-old Colinda Lee Hotomani of second-degree murder.
“I hope you know your actions changed many lives, not just one,” Jocelyn wrote in her statement, addressed to the pair.
When the verdicts were read — approximately 12 hours after jurors began deliberating the case — Hotomani silently wept, while Wolfe showed little immediate response save a deep, shaky breath.
Wolfe’s reaction changed as he stood to offer a tearful apology to Ryan’s family, describing having met the other man a week prior.
The two discussed drugs and gang life before shifting the conversation to tattoos.
“We clicked right there,” Wolfe said.
Before the pair parted ways that day, Wolfe had agreed to give Ryan a free tattoo featuring his late daughter’s name, and the two talked about heading to British Columbia together, Wolfe said.
Instead, a week later, Ryan was left slashed, beaten, intoxicated and terrified inside a smoke-filled Regina house.
“It wasn’t even supposed to go like this,” Wolfe said, before going on to offer his apology. “I’m sorry for your guys’s loss. I don’t know how else to say it.”
Hotomani, too, took a moment to address the family.
“I’ve got kids,” she said through a voice choked with emotion. “I don’t know how I would feel if my kid died. I’m sorry.”
Hotomani called what happened to Ryan that night “totally uncalled for,” and suggested the reality about what led to the event was “different from what I was told.”
Court heard the incident unfolded during a night of drinking and drug use, after Hotomani and a third accused, Jessica Pangman, became convinced they’d been sexually assaulted by Ryan while asleep.
The confrontation that followed saw Ryan slashed numerous times by Wolfe, assaulted by both Wolfe and Hotomani, then backed into a bathroom where Wolfe used a large TV to block him in. Pangman — testifying against the other two — told the court Hotomani and Wolfe then lit a fire outside the bathroom.
Pangman said Ryan was alive and calling for help when they left the house.
Defence lawyers for the two — Mervyn Shaw for Wolfe and Greg Wilson for Hotomani — urged the jury to consider defences such as provocation and intoxication, but the verdicts suggest the jury instead believed the case set out by Crown prosecutor Adam Breker.
Shortly after the verdicts, Wolfe was handed the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder: life with no parole for 25 years. Meanwhile, Hotomani — who had no previous criminal record — received a life sentence with parole eligibility set at 10 years.
Defence lawyers described the tragic paths their clients’ lives have taken as they struggled with problems like poverty, substance abuse and fallout from residential schools.
“I never asked to get put in these shoes,” Wolfe reportedly told Shaw. “Everywhere I went, I was set up for failure.”
Ryan’s family said their loved one was not without his own problems, but they added they were trying to support him through them.
“Even though the ways that he carried on, we continued praying for him, and we’re still praying for him today,” his aunt Rhonda Bigknife told reporters. “For us, it’s a closure, but still in a way it’s not really a good closure, because he’s not here ... He was always a loving, kindhearted guy, and always very respectful ... He always welcomed us with a big hug all the time and he was everything to us.”
Family friend Brenda Dubois said the family is relieved by the verdicts, but questions why it took days to discover Ryan’s body inside the house.
Pangman’s charges remain before the court.