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B.C. murderer sentenced

A B.C. killer has been sentenced for second-degree murder in the 2010 death of a Whitehorse man. Alexander Dennis received a mandatory life sentence and will not be eligible to apply for parole for 12 years.
murder

A B.C. killer has been sentenced for second-degree murder in the 2010 death of a Whitehorse man.

Alexander Dennis received a mandatory life sentence and will not be eligible to apply for parole for 12 years.

Delivering his sentence on Friday, Yukon Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale called the murder “cold-blooded and senseless.”

At a hearing last month the court was told how Dennis shot 41-year-old Gordon Tubman in the head at close range in the trailer where Tubman lived as a caretaker on a quarry site on Copper Haul Road.

Tubman’s body was found in the burned rubble of his home.

Dennis had been on a five-day drug binge leading up to the murder and was in a paranoid state, the court heard.

He had barely turned 18 at the time of the murder and was selling and using crack cocaine to support himself.

At the earlier hearing, his lawyer, Don Campbell, told the court that Dennis had just cut ties with a B.C. gang. In his paranoid state he wanted to see if he was capable of killing a person in case the gang came after him, the lawyer said.

On the day of the murder, Dennis sold drugs to Tubman and a third man, Franklin Charlie. The three then went back to Tubman’s trailer.

Dennis told Charlie he was going to kill Tubman, but Charlie did not take the threat seriously, Veale said.

Charlie would later go to jail on different charges, where he told a guard what happened.

After the murder Dennis left Whitehorse.

He was in a British Columbia penitentiary until July 2013 after being convicted of sexual assault.

The police tried an undercover operation to gather evidence but were unsuccessful, Veale said.

In the end, Dennis was shown recorded pleas from his and Tubman’s family and confessed.

The Crown admits it would have been a difficult case without that confession, Veale said.

Charlie has been diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and has a long criminal record, the court heard.

Tubman’s family spoke passionately last month, describing their loss.

Dennis’s lawyer called Tubman “an innocent victim in every sense of the word.”

Along with the prison sentence, Dennis is banned from owning firearms for life and must provide a DNA sample to be kept on file.

Contact Ashley Joannou at ashleyj@yukon-news.com