A Calgary man who killed his roommate by hitting him in the head was handed a four-year sentence Monday.
Collin Oxtoby, 50, fatally injured Kevin Honish, 55, in July 2022.
At a sentencing hearing last month, prosecutor Gordon Haight argued for a six-year sentence, while defence lawyer Jim Lutz asked the judge to impose a four-year prison term.
Justice Michele Hollins sided with Lutz, finding the violence was “not gratuitous.”
With credit for the time he’s already spent in custody, Oxtoby has two years and 10 months left to serve.
During the trial, court heard the two men got into a fight inside the home they shared in the southeast community of Albert Park.
Honish’s girlfriend testified that she heard Oxtoby accused Honish of stealing his tools.
At the outset of the trial, prosecutor Haight told the judge that Oxtoby is believed to have used a hammer in his attack on Honish.
After the beating, Honish and his girlfriend walked to a friend’s house. By then, Honish’s condition was deteriorating and the girlfriend called 911.
By the time paramedics arrived, Honish was unconscious.
At hospital, medical staff determined Honish was suffering from a brain hemorrhage.
He never regained consciousness and died in hospital about a week later.
After Oxtoby was arrested, he told police he didn’t believe he’d caused the fatal injuries because Honish walked out of the house on his own and did not seem seriously injured.
But Hollins convicted Oxtoby of manslaughter, noting a “reasonable person” should anticipate that delivering multiple, forceful blows to another person’s head “would cause bodily harm that would interfere with the health and comfort of that person.”
At a sentencing hearing last month, Honish’s sister, Tammy Doucette, read aloud a victim impact statement on behalf of her family.
“We will never forgive this ruthless act,” said Doucette. “We are shattered.”