A man who beat, robbed and left a man to freeze to death at K’atl’odeeche First Nation in 2017 hasc successfully reduced his second-degree murder conviction to manslaughter.
James George Thomas was was originally charged with first-degree murder of Alex Norwegian, who died of hypothermia after being severly beaten on a remote road on the K’atl’odeeche First Nation Reserve by Thomas and others who were hoping to steal his drugs.
After a five-week-long trial, Thomas was convicted of second-degree murder and robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison with zero chance of parole for 10 years.
Now, Thomas is arguing he commited manslaughter instead. He’s dismissed his appeal for the robbery sentence too.
It all started with a plan: to rob Norwegian, a drug dealer at the time.
According to the Crown, Sasha Cayen, Tyler Cayen and Thomas were drinking and smoking crack at Thomas’ home. Levi Cayen showed up later with more drinks.
Thomas suggested they rob Norwegian, who sold crack to Sasha earlier that night.
Sasha lured Norwegian to meet for a fake drug buy at a portage alone. Thomas and Levi Cayen took a snowmobile to meet Norwegian. They locked the gate to the portage and tied a rope around Norwegian’s neck.
What might be the most important detail here is that they smashed the windows of his car. 25-year-old Norwegian was left robbed and beaten in his car in minus 32°C with windchill. And according to Dr. Weinberg, a forensic pathologist who testified for the crown, he found that Norweigian’s cause of death was hypothermia.
To be sure, his head injuries were bad enough to cause an “altered mental status,” also, according to court documents.
The Crown established there was mens rea for the murder - that Thomas knew that leaving Norwegian was a wrongdoing that constitutes part of a crime, because he knew Norweigian would likely die if he was left alone, beaten in a broken car in freezing cold temperatures.
Thomas’ argument is that the tiral judge made made a mistake when convicting him of second-degree murder, as he erred in his consideration of mens rea for murder.
As for the actual robbery, the group apparently spent hours searching for Norwegian’s stash, but was never found.