Pair charged with stabbing death to be sentenced next month
Crown and defence lawyers presented reasoning behind joint submission in St. John’s court Wednesday
Two of the four men charged in connection with the stabbing death of Steven Miller in C.B.S. last year will be sentenced next month.
Calvin Kenny, 26, and Chesley Lucas, 24, appeared together in provincial court in St. John’s Wednesday for a day-long hearing before Judge Colin Flynn.
Their lawyers, Bob Buckingham and Randy Piercey, respectively, had previously made a joint submission with Crown prosecutors for a sentence of 7 ½ years for each for the two men, who have pleaded guilty to manslaughter, robbery, forcible confinement and arson in connection with Miller’s death. That potential sentence would include several sentences running concurrently.
Flynn, however, rejected that sentencing suggestion at the beginning of September, saying he had concerns with it. He said he felt certain parts of the sentence as it related to Kenny and Lucas appeared to be « extremely low » and had the potential to undermine the public’s faith in the justice system.
The lawyers presented their reasoning to Flynn in an effort to respond to his concerns Wednesday. Flynn will sentence Kenny and Lucas Dec. 18.
There is a publication ban on the evidence presented in the case, given that Paul Connolly, who is also charged in relation to Miller’s death, could still go to trial before a jury. Connolly has not yet entered pleas on charges of murder, robbery, forcible confinement and arson, and his lawyers have advised they are waiting for Kenny and Lucas to be sentenced before they proceed.
A fourth accused in the case, Kyle Morgan, pleaded guilty to a single count of being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter and was sentenced by Flynn in August to a year behind bars.
Miller, 25, was assaulted and kidnapped by three armed, masked men who forced their way into his Seal Cove home in late July 2016. The intruders then set the house on fire.
Miller’s body was found four hours later in a driveway in the Bayview Heights area of Kelligrews. He had been stabbed multiple times.