'I'm truly sorry,' says Whitehorse man awaiting sentence in beating death of 87-year-old victim

Prosecutor Amy Porteous is asking for a sentence of six to eight years for a Whitehorseman who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of 87-year-old Olson Wolftail in December, 2016.

Wolftail was beaten to death in his Watson Lake, Yukon, home by 33-year-old Alfred Thomas Chief. Chief pleaded guilty in February.

Porteous said manslaughter deaths can range from "near-accident to near-murder."

She said Wolftail's death resulted from a prolonged and brutal physical attack. She also noted that before that, Chief had nine previous assault convictions since 2005.

Chief has said he has no recollection of the attack and has not said why he attacked Wolftail.

"How could someone walk into your own home and take your life without any reason?" asked the victim's daughter Maria Wolftail, in a victim impact impact statement read on her behalf in Yukon Territorial Court on Thursday.

Her statementwas one of eight submitted to the court by Wolftail's children and grandchildren.

Reading her own statement, Wolftail'sdaughter Kathy Magun said her father was both respected and respectful. She said that after his death, many people told her about times when he had quietly helped them.

"It's like someone took a hammer and shattered my heart into pieces it cannot be repaired," said Magun.

"What good was all the rules?" she asked."Now I question everything."

'I'm truly sorry'

At the end of the defence and prosecution submissions, Chief took advantage of his opportunity to speak.

He apologized for the pain that he caused Wolftail's family.

"I'll have to live with that for the rest of my life," said Chief. "I'm truly sorry."

Chief's lawyer Jennifer Cunningham said he had no ill will towards Wolftail.

She said Chief remembers drinking and watching television at Wolftail's home that night,and nothing after that until he came to strapped into a restraint chair at the Watson Lake RCMP detachment.

The prosecutor said police reported when they arrived at the home that Chief didn't understand why he was being arrested, was combative, and alternately laughing, crying and growling. After he began to punch the walls and bang his head on the floor at the detachment, officers put him in the restraint chair.

Defence asks for 4 years and 3 months jail

The defence made a somewhat complicated sentencing proposal on Thursday.

Cunningham is asking for a prison sentence of four years and three months, plus three years probation.

Chief has already served the equivalent of two years and three months, so Cunningham'sproposal would leave him with two years to serve. That would make it possible for Chief to request that he spend the rest of his time in the Whitehorse Correctional Centre instead of a federal penitentiary.

Cunningham said Chief would have the support of a psychologist he's been working with, and the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Society Yukon.

She said he's been diagnosed with both FASD and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She said violent incidents in his life have always involved alcohol.

Cunningham said Chief's two children live in Whitehorse. His contact with them is important, she said. Ongoing contact with them will "provide him with the necessary purpose to go forward" in dealing with his alcoholism.

'Keep looking forward'

Judge Michael Cozens reserved his decision. He told Chief and Wolftail's familiesthat it will take some time because of other outstanding cases.

Cozens also made a plea to the family members in the courtroom.

He recalled Kathy Magun mentioning her father's advice that, "you don't look back, you keep looking forward."

Cozens said his family could honour his greatness by remembering that advice.

"I don't think that he would want his family to let what happened to him crush his family," said Cozens.