minicounsel

OSHAWA COURT FILE NO.: CR-16-14322 DATE: 20170418

ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE

BETWEEN:

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN – and – CLYDE SOLLOWS Defendant

Counsel: Mitchell Flagg, for the Crown Kevin Mitchell-Gill, for the Defendant

HEARD: February 6 and April 10. 2017

Introduction

1Clyde Sollows called 911 on August 3, 2015, from his Oshawa home. When asked the nature of his emergency, he replied that he killed his father.

2Police arrived at the home within minutes. They found Mr. Sollows outside, smoking a cigarette.

3Inside the house, officers found Walter Sollows, bloodied and lifeless, with three stab wounds to the chest.

4Clyde Sollows told the police that he killed his father because Walter Sollows was a controlling, abusive man who had destroyed the family.

5Clyde Sollows pleaded guilty to second degree murder. He faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. The only matter for me to decide is the period of time that he must serve in jail before he is eligible to apply for parole.

The Principles Governing the Parole Ineligibility Determination

6Section 745 (c) of the Criminal Code provides that on conviction for second degree murder, the offender must be sentenced to life imprisonment, with no eligibility for parole for a fixed period ranging from a minimum of ten to a maximum of twenty-five years. Section 745.4 specifically empowers the sentencing judge to increase the parole ineligibility period from the minimum of ten years to the period that the judge deems fit, up to the maximum of twenty-five years.

7In exercising his or her discretion under s. 745.4, the sentencing judge must have regard to the character of the offender, the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, and the recommendation of the jury, if any. As Mr. Sollows pleaded guilty, there is no jury recommendation to be considered in this case.

8As a general rule, the period of parole ineligibility shall be for ten years, but this can be ousted by the sentencing judge’s determination that, according to the criteria set out in s. 745.4, the offender should wait a longer period before having his suitability for release assessed. The determination of the parole ineligibility period is “a very fact-sensitive process”: see R. v. Shropshire, [1995] 4 S.C.R. 227, at para. 18. The sliding scale of parole ineligibility reflects the fact that “within second degree murder there is both a range of seriousness and varying degrees of moral culpability”: Shropshire, at para. 31.

9An increased parole ineligibility period does not require unusual circumstances: see Shropshire, at paras. 26 to 27.

10In R. v. McKnight (1999), 135 C.C.C (3d) 41 (Ont. C.A.), the court held that in assessing the s. 745.4 criteria and in deciding whether to increase the period of parole ineligibility, all of the objectives of sentencing are relevant. Those objectives, as set out in s. 718, are denunciation of unlawful conduct and the harm caused to victims or to the community by it, deterrence both general and specific, the separation of offenders from society where necessary, rehabilitation, reparation for harm done to victims or to the community, and promotion of a sense of responsibility in offenders and acknowledgement of the harm done to victims or to the community. The court, however, observed in McKnight that the statutory ten year minimum ineligibility period limits the weight that can be accorded to the offender’s prospects of rehabilitation.

11Regardless of the period of parole ineligibility imposed, the sentence remains one of life imprisonment. The sentencing judge does not decide when the offender should be paroled, but merely the period he must serve before parole can even be considered: see R. v. Trudeau (1987), 24 O.A.C. 376 (C.A.).

The Positions of the Parties

12Crown and defence counsel jointly submit that a period of parole ineligibility of seventeen years is appropriate in this case. They agree that this was a violent attack on an unarmed older person, and that there were some elements of planning and deliberation in Mr. Sollows’ conduct. Mr. Sollows’ guilty plea, which spared family members in particular from having to testify, and also saved court time, his co-operation with the police, and to some extent the unusual background dynamics, provide mitigation.

13Crown and defence counsel also agree that there should be a DNA order, a s. 109(2)(a) order for ten years and a s. 109(2)(b) order for life.

The Nature of the Offence and the Circumstances Surrounding Its Commission

14On the afternoon of August 3, 2015, 53 year old Clyde Sollows went to the home of his next door neighbour and friend, Sheldon Stride. He told Mr. Stride that it had been good to know him, and that he was going to kill his father. He then immediately left.

15Mr. Stride was shocked by what he heard. He later told police that Mr. Sollows had an aggressive and agitated look about him that he had never seen before.

16A few minutes later, Mr. Sollows returned to the Stride home. He had a cloth and was cleaning blood from his right arm. He said, “I did it. I stabbed him to death.”

17Just after 4:30 p.m., Clyde Sollows called 911 from his own residence in Oshawa. He said, in a matter of fact tone of voice, “Hi, I killed my father.” He confirmed the address he was at. He added, “That’s it, I’ll be waiting”, and hung up.

18The first police officer to arrive at the scene saw Mr. Sollows on the walkway in front of the house. Mr. Sollows appeared to be smoking a cigarette. The officer asked who had called 911. Mr. Sollows said that he did. He added, “I killed my dad.” He told the officer that he stabbed his father in the heart “because he was a fucking asshole.”

19As other officers arrived, Mr. Sollows was handcuffed and searched. When asked his father’s name, Mr. Sollows said, “Doesn’t fucking matter. He is dead.”

20Mr. Sollows was described as being slightly intoxicated, but not drunk. He seemed relieved, and not upset. He admitted to drinking a mickey of rye that day.

21When asked where his father was, Mr. Sollows said, “Upstairs”. Officers went into the house. They found 76 year old Walter Sollows slumped on the kitchen floor. Blood was soaking through his shirt. He was turning bluish in colour, but was still warm to the touch. He did not have a pulse. There was a kitchen knife and a screwdriver on the floor. The kitchen was orderly and there were no signs of a struggle.

22Walter Sollows was taken to hospital by ambulance, and pronounced dead within minutes of arrival there.

23An autopsy revealed that Walter Sollows sustained three sharp-force injuries to the upper torso. Two of the injuries were non-life threatening, but the third pierced his heart and was fatal. There was also a sharp-force injury to the head, and a cut to the right hand that could have been a defensive type wound. The cause of death was sharp-force trauma to the heart.

24Clyde Sollows was taken to a police station to be interviewed. While he and one of the transport officers waited in the cruiser inside the sally port, the officer made a comment about air conditioning. Mr. Sollows said, “Daddy had control of the air conditioner upstairs, he was always in control. Fuck him. That’s why I killed him.” When told not to talk about the events, Mr. Sollows said, “My father abused us for 60 years. He was responsible for my mother’s death.”

25Mr. Sollows was searched in the booking area. His clothing and forearms were bloodstained, but he had sustained no injuries.

26During a videotaped interview, Mr. Sollows told the police that his father regularly inflicted abuse on his mother. Mr. Sollows, his wife and daughter moved in with his parents about ten years earlier, and lived in the basement of the house. He said that his parents always argued, and that his mother often had bruises on her body. He had often thought about doing something to his father. On some earlier occasion, he hid in a closet with a shotgun, waiting for his father.

27Mr. Sollows said that his mother died the previous month. He blamed his father for her death. He believed that his father poisoned his mother. (In fact, she died of natural causes.) A few days after her death, his brother, who was developmentally delayed, died of natural causes. It was believed that he had been upset about their mother’s death and had suffered a stroke or a heart attack.

28Mr. Sollows told the police that he does not normally drink, but on August 3 he had a mickey’s worth of alcohol. He was in the basement when he heard a banging noise upstairs. He went to the kitchen, where he saw his father. His father said, “Fuck you”. Mr. Sollows said that he then stabbed his father two or three times in the chest. He grabbed a tea towel to clean the blood off his hands, went next door to say good bye to Mr. Stride, and made the 911 call.

29Mr. Sollows’ wife and daughter told the police that Walter Sollows had often been mentally, physically, emotionally and financially abusive to various members of the family, including his deceased wife. He had had a number of extra-marital affairs that he had not kept secret from the family.

30Clyde Sollows’ daughter told the police that she believed her father was becoming increasingly depressed over the year prior to the stabbing. He had been unemployed, and argued frequently with his wife and with his father.

31Mr. Stride told the police that about a week before the stabbing, Clyde Sollows told him that since his mother and brother died, his father had been “bugging” him for $50,000, which Mr. Stride understood was money the family had put together to buy the house. Clyde Sollows told Mr. Stride that his father had been causing problems within the family throughout their lives, and now he wanted to sell the house and was demanding the money. Clyde Sollows said that he could kill his father.

32Sharon Wilson, the daughter of Walter Sollows and sister of Clyde Sollows, provided a Victim Impact Statement. She struggles with her own emotions about the murder of her father by her brother, as well as the anger that her sons feel about the loss of their grandfather.

The Character of Mr. Sollows

33Defence counsel did not seek a pre-sentence report. He provided information about Mr. Sollows’ background.

34Mr. Sollows was 53 years old at the time of the offence. He and his wife have one daughter, who is an adult and works overseas. He is described as being a good father and husband.

35He last worked, as grocery clerk, in 2013. Medical problems prevented him from continuing employment. His wife continued to work, while he looked after the home.

36He has a very dated criminal record for possession of a weapon.

37Walter Sollows was described as physically and emotionally abusive of his wife. He once chased her down the road with a gun. Clyde Sollows was very protective of his mother. He and his father did not get along. In addition to abusing his wife, Walter Sollows was abusive of and mean toward Clyde Sollows, for years.

38Walter Sollows continued his emotional abuse of Clyde Sollows after his wife’s death. Walter Sollows brought his girlfriend to his other son’s funeral. He began to tell Clyde Sollows that he was going to take back the house, and that Clyde Sollows and his wife would be on the street.

39On August 3, 2015, Mr. Sollows had plans to commit suicide. The police found a rope and a suicide note in the course of their investigation of the stabbing.

40Mr. Sollows was assessed by a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Julian Gojer, about two months after his arrest. Dr. Gojer diagnosed Mr. Sollows as suffering from depression. Mr. Sollows’ daughter, who is supportive of him, believes that he suffered from mental health issues for some period of years before the offence.

Analysis

41There are a number of significant aggravating factors in this case. A 76 year old man was killed in his own home. By virtue of s. 718.2(a)(iii.1) of the Criminal Code, the age of the victim in the circumstances of this case is a statutory aggravating factor. Additionally, the fact that the deceased was killed by his own adult son is a form of breach of trust.

42While all murders are, by definition, violent, this one involved a measure of brutality. Multiple stab wounds were inflicted to Walter Sollows. He was unarmed and unable to defend himself at the time. Clyde Sollows’ comments to his neighbour during the week preceding, and earlier on the day of the stabbing, reveal elements of planning and deliberation to his conduct.

43In mitigation, Mr. Sollows pleaded guilty, which is a sign of remorse and acceptance of responsibility for his offence. His behaviour immediately after the stabbing involved a high degree of co-operation with the police. He telephoned 911, waited for the police at the scene, and essentially turned himself in to them. He co-operated in telling them what happened from the outset, and provided them with a full, videotaped confession.

44Given his very dated criminal record, Mr. Sollows is essentially a first offender. He is a person of good character. He has the ongoing support of his family.

45It is important to articulate that the fact that Mr. Sollows was subjected to abuse by his father, and witnessed the extreme abuse of his mother for years, does not justify or excuse the taking of his father’s life. The family dynamics explain, however, Mr. Sollows’ disturbed thinking leading up to and at the time of his commission of the offence.

46In R. v. Anthony-Cook, 2016 SCC 43, at para. 42, the Supreme Court of Canada held that trial judges should reject joint submissions as to sentence only where the proposed sentence “would be viewed by reasonable and informed persons as a breakdown in the proper functioning of the justice system.” I have no such concern about the joint submission put to me by very experienced Crown and defence counsel in this case. The period of parole ineligibility jointly suggested meets the objectives of sentencing set out in the Criminal Code, and recognizes the seriousness of this murder and the degree of Mr. Sollows’ moral culpability.

Conclusion

47Mr. Sollows, please stand. I sentence you to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for seventeen years.

48I order you to provide bodily fluid samples for DNA analysis. I impose a weapons prohibition order under s. 109(2)(a) for ten years, and s. 109(2)(b) for life.

49The warrant of committal will be endorsed to reflect that Mr. Sollows’ life sentence began to run on August 3, 2015.

FUERST J.

Released: April 18, 2017

R. v Sollows, 2017 ONSC 2359

Case Summary

Introduction

The Principles Governing the Parole Ineligibility Determination