MANSLAUGHTER
Mother, daughter sentenced to 8 ½ years for killing housemate.
REGINA — Rosalyn Faye Wilm was acquainted with Ray Yacevich from the Regina streets when they were both homeless, alcohol dependent and down on their luck.
She later allowed him to move into a house she shared with her daughter, Sarah Dawn Louisa Wilm — a decision that ultimately led to the 53-year-old man’s violent death at the hands of the two women.
Rosalyn, 42, and Sarah, 23, were originally charged with second-degree murder; during a Friday appearance at Regina Court of Queen’s Bench, both instead pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Each received a sentence of 8 1/2 years. With remand credit factored in, each has 6 1/2 years left to serve.
“This is an example of yet another senseless death as a result of addiction to alcohol,” Justice Ellen Gunn said in agreeing to impose the sentence jointly proposed by Crown prosecutors James Fitz-Gerald and Derek Davidson and defence lawyers for Rosalyn and Sarah, Dave Andrews and Jeff Deagle, respectively.
Court heard there was no significant relationship between Yacevich and the Wilms, who, at the time of the March 23, 2014 homicide, were sharing Rosalyn’s home at 1450 Wascana St.
In the hours before the killing, all three were drinking and using drugs — resulting, at one point, in a 911 call when Sarah believed her mother had overdosed. Emergency crews attended but determined additional help wasn’t needed for her.
The night spiralled out of control from there. It came to a brutal end after Yacevich — whose blood-alcohol level was later found to be .289 — began touching Sarah inappropriately and against her will, court heard.
As she struggled to push him away, a fight began that left Sarah under Yacevich on the kitchen floor.
Rosalyn picked up a claw headed hammer and struck Yacevich on the head. She later told police and a preliminary hearing that she believed she hit Yacevich only once or twice (Sarah had said she also hit him a couple times with the same hammer), but an autopsy found he was struck at least 51 times on the skull and also sustained eight stab wounds to his body.
Once the assault was over, the women pushed Yacevich down the stairs into the home’s basement and began cleaning up the blood in the kitchen. Two male acquaintances turned up at that point, at least one of whom carried Yacevich into an upstairs bedroom.
After the women left with one of the men, the other man set the house on fire, court heard. Brothers Brian and Lawrence Gordon were later charged with arson and obstruction. Lawrence’s charges have since been stayed by the Crown, while Brian’s remain before the court.
A post-mortem examination showed Yacevich was alive when the fire was set and had burns to 93 per cent of his body when fire crews pulled his body out, but fire and smoke were not found to have been contributing causes in his death.
The women, neither of whom have significant criminal records, were arrested several days later and have been in custody since.
Gunn noted little is known about Yacevich. Fitz-Gerald said no one from the man’s family, to his knowledge, has ever contacted the Crown’s office. No member of his family was present in court; nor was anyone there for the Wilms.
“There were no victim impact statements, there was nobody here for him today, which is incredibly sad,” Fitz-Gerald told reporters after court. “I’m sure he has family. I just don’t know anything about them.”
In delivering the sentences, Gunn said Yacevich “must have suffered greatly as a result of the numerous blows he suffered along with the fact that he was still alive at the time of the fire.”
As for the Wilms, Andrews and Deagle said their clients come from difficult backgrounds and have each struggled with substance abuse for years. Attempts to turn their lives around ultimately proved unsuccessful when their shared addiction took control.
“It’s difficult when you’re (suffering with addictions) to get out, and, unfortunately, it took this tragedy for (Sarah) to be in a position where she now can try and put that behind her,” Deagle said after court. “She’s hit rock bottom, if that’s the case.”
Both women offered apologies in court and said they want to address their problems while in prison.