Elias Schiller gets 4 years in beating death of Yellowknife cab driver

Elias Schiller, 19, has been sentenced to four years for the beating death of Yellowknife cab driver Ahmed Mahamud Ali.

In the Supreme Court of the N.W.T. Tuesday, Justice Andrew Mahar acknowledged four years is "an unusually low sentence for the circumstances." Crown prosecutors had recommended six.

Mahar said he took into account Schiller's unusually low age (18 at the time of the offence), his early guilty plea to the charge of manslaughter, his sincere regret and remorse for the circumstances, and his lack of a criminal record or any violent past. He also noted that Elias did not plan to commit his crime, and there was no evidence Ali had been targeted.

Mahar also considered several "significant" Gladue factors in the case, factors which he explained can be attributed to systemic racism toward Indigenous people in Canada, and largely out of Schiller's control.

In court Monday, Crown prosecutor Jill Andrews explained that Schiller was bullied in school for his ethnicity and his weight. She alluded to difficult childhood circumstances outlined in a pre-sentencing report, including being exposed to substance abuse at a young age, and abusing substances himself from around age 13.

Schiller's lawyer, Lance McClean, noted Monday that Schiller has the support of his family, several of whom were in the courtroom. "He is a man who has a foundation to go to upon release from custody."

McClean also said Schiller has done well in custody, working in the kitchen at the North Slave Correctional Centre, taking part in physical activities, doing Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and "growing up."

Before receiving his sentence, Schiller apologized to the friends, family and colleagues of Ali, some of whom had travelled from Toronto to witness the proceedings. "I am sorry from the bottom of my heart," he said, adding that he regrets his actions.

'I did not expect to be forgiven'

Schiller's father, James, who pleaded guilty to being an accessory to aggravated assault, also apologized to the family and friends present. He said he had been "deeply touched" by those who made victim impact statements.

"I did not expect to be forgiven," James Schiller said. "I'm very sorry for what happened."

Justice Mahar sentenced James Schiller to six months for his role in trying to hide his son's crimes.

His defence lawyer, Tracy Bock, said Monday the crime had changed the elder Schiller's life for good.

Originally from B.C., Bock said James Schiller has lived in Yellowknife for the past thirty years and has to face familiar faces every day. Out of work due to an injury to his hand in 2010, Bock said his client thinks about the crime every day, and what he could have done differently.

With credit for time served, James Schiller will serve no more time in custody.

Elias Schiller will serve a further 806 days in prison. Elias Schiller has been in custody since his arrest; he received 654 days of credit for time served.

Justice Mahar was also moved by those who spoke about the victim, describing the 73-year-old Ali as "a support to all who knew him," and "a good, hard-working man who deserved better." Ali could have retired, Mahar said, but he chose to keep working, to support those he felt responsible for, including many orphans in Somalia.

"His loss is obviously felt."