A man who stomped Christopher Schaan in the face and head during a vicious, unprovoked attack in Saskatoon has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for manslaughter.
Even if Stacey Omer L’Herault didn’t intend to kill Schaan, “he was the sole active agent” in causing Schaan’s death, Justice Richard Danyliuk said during Thursday’s sentencing in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.
L’Herault, 46, was convicted of manslaughter following a jury trial in September.
The Crown argued he should serve a 12-year sentence for the beating that left Schaan severely brain damaged and ultimately killed him. The defence argued for eight years.
Danyliuk said he imposed a higher-end sentence to reflect the severity of the crime and the role L’Herault played in it.
Christopher Schaan of Saskatoon died from blunt force trauma to the head after an attack on Feb. 12, 2015.
The jury accepted evidence that L’Herault was high on meth when he punched Schaan in the face after Schaan walked into the basement he shared with two other men on Feb. 12, 2015. L’Herault, a drug dealer who suspected Schaan of stealing drugs, continued punching and stomping him after he hit the ground, a witness testified at trial.
The fact that the blows were aimed specifically at Schaan’s head and didn’t stop even when he was defenceless on the floor makes the beating a “near murder,” Crown prosecutor Michael Pilon argued.
L’Herault let him suffer for hours without medical care and refused to take responsibility for his eventual death, Pilon said. At trial, L’Herault claimed Schaan had overdosed.
That showed a lack of remorse, Pilon argued, even though L’Herault tearfully apologized to Schaan’s family before he was sentenced.
L’Herault is a “violent and chronic offender with an out-of-control drug addiction” that he refuses to overcome, Pilon said. He outlined the killer’s long criminal record, including a prison term for robbery during which he completed no programs and after which he showed “zero change.”
If L’Herault is unwilling to change, then the public must be protected, Danyliuk said in his decision. However, he agreed with defence lawyer George Combe that L’Herault’s prior criminal record speaks to addiction more than violence.
Combe said his client started using drugs at the age of 13 to cope with the grief and death in his life. Schaan’s daughter, Kara Campbell, said her father came from a similar background. Reading a tribute in court that Danyliuk called “moving,” she described the heart-wrenching moment she had to take Schaan off life support on Feb. 21, 2015, eight days after the assault.
Both she and her mother Brenda stressed that Schaan was more than an addict.
“He was probably the nicest guy you’ll ever meet, really compassionate. He had a good heart,” Campbell said, adding she was happy with the 11-year sentence.
Danyliuk gave L’Herault credit of 1.25 days for every day he spent on remand, leaving him eight and a half years to serve. At the Crown’s request, Danyliuk ordered L’Herault serve at least half his sentence, or just over four years, before he is eligible for parole, as opposed to just under three years.
He needs to serve a substantial portion of his sentence for the “baseless, savage attack,” Danyliuk said.
“I do not know if you will ever be able to wash that blood off your hands.”
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