The following story contains details of violent criminal offences which some readers may find distressing. Rapid access counselling is available in the Yukon at 867-456-3838. The Yukon government line to request help with alcohol and drug addiction is 867-456-3838 or toll free in Yukon 1-866-456-3838.
The sentencing hearing for convicted killer Philip Atkinson will continue in 2024 after the presiding judge chose not to rule on a joint sentencing submission from Crown and defence lawyers on Dec. 8 in Yukon Supreme Court.
Judge David Gates said the information provided by Crown and defence lawyers in support of their joint submission was “insufficient” for him to make a decision. A joint submission is made when opposing lawyers agree on the sentence an offender should receive.
Gates asked that lawyers provide him with seven additional pieces of information. Among the items he requested are: A formal Gladue report on Atkinson, further details of his time in pre-trial custody during the COVID-19 pandemic and a review of Atkinson’s prior convictions for violence to determine if any of the offences he committed were against women or girls.
Gates also asked for further submissions from the defence on the role of a trial judge when presented with a joint submission.
“I very, very much regret the further delay created by my decision,” Gates told the courtroom.
“My sincere hope is that the healing process can begin in all these affected communities now that the circumstances of Mary Ann Ollie’s tragic death are known, and Mr. Atkinson has accepted responsibility for that death.”
Sixty-six-year-old Atkinson is being sentenced for the 2019 death of Mary Ann Ollie. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection to Ollie’s death on Oct. 12, 2023. He was initially charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter as part of a plea deal.
Atkinson’s sentencing hearing was held on Dec. 5 and 6 at the courthouse in Whitehorse. Following the completion of submissions from the lawyers on the second day of the hearing, Gates reserved his decision until Dec. 8. Now, though, Atkinson’s sentencing has been kicked further down the road.
The move by Gates to delay judgment and request further information on the joint sentencing submission was acknowledged as unique, as trial judges are generally expected to adhere to such sentencing proposals.
However, it was not entirely unexpected. During previous court dates, Gates had made clear that the recommendations of a joint submission did not bind him and that judges can depart from joint submissions under special circumstances.
Following the presentations from both Crown and defence lawyers during the two-day sentencing hearing, Gates also expressed that he was having trouble grappling with the joint submission process. He said the matter before the court was a “difficult and very important case” and that a sentence needs to be done right, not quickly.
The joint sentencing submission calls for Atkinson to receive nine and a half years in jail, less time served. Adjusted at a rate of one and a half days for every day served in pre-trial detention, Atkinson’s time served will work out to just under five years. He has been in custody since his arrest on Sept. 16, 2020, following a 13-month police investigation.
The joint sentencing submission also calls for Atkinson to face DNA and weapons prohibition orders.
On the first day of the sentencing hearing, there was considerable discussion between Gates and the lawyers about the admissibility of various passages in some of the victim and community impact statements.
Five victim impact statements and two community impact statements were ultimately shared in court, either wholly or in part. A sixth victim impact statement was filed with the court but not read aloud.
The victim impact statements, which a representative of victim services read, touched on the mental, physical and emotional toll that Ollie’s death had on those closest to her. A couple of the statements described substance use challenges that arose for some individuals. Others touched on the fear that Atkinson could one day return to the community of Ross River.
Ollie’s son’s letter described the pain of knowing his mom would never meet his three sons, and recalled fond memories of fishing and working on hides with her.
Community impact statements from the Ross River Dena Council and Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society (LAWS) spoke about the challenges of supporting community members when both the victim and offender come from the same place, as well as about the distrust that Atkinson’s crimes have caused among some people.
“You don’t think people are capable of something like that […] Violence is not a part of the Kaska way of life,” read a passage from the LAWS statement, which additionally noted that Atkinson’s actions broke both Canadian and Kaska laws.
The lawyers reviewed aggravating and mitigating factors that contributed to their suggested sentence. Among the aggravating factors were Atkinson’s criminal record, which includes charges for prior violent behaviour and the fact that Ollie was a vulnerable person.
Among the mitigating factors was Atkinson’s guilty plea, which saved witnesses from taking the stand to testify and meant that jurors did not have to be summoned. Other mitigating factors shared by the defence included Atkinson’s poor health, cognitive issues and his diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, credited to his time in residential school.
During the hearing, Crown lawyer William McDiarmid described the case being sentenced as “devastating” with an “incalculable” impact.
“Mr. Atkinson took Ms. Ollie’s life, and he did it in a particularly brutal manner,” he said.
McDiarmid also offered some insight into why the decision was made to drop the first-degree murder charge initially filed against Atkinson in favour of a plea deal on the charge of manslaughter. He pointed to the high burden of proof required for a first-degree murder conviction and the fact that the trial would have had to rely heavily on witnesses.
McDiarmid added that witness testimony might not have been reliable enough to get a conviction for first-degree murder due to the amount of time that had passed since Ollie’s death, as well as the substance-use challenges faced by some of the witnesses. A manslaughter charge, he said, was viewed as more likely of getting a conviction.
If the judge accepts the sentence suggested in the joint submission, McDiarmid noted that it would be one of the “strongest sentences” for manslaughter in Yukon history.
In her statements, Atkinson’s lawyer, Jennifer Cunningham, shared Gladue factors that were weighed when coming up with the joint submission. She said that Atkinson spent his earliest years living on a trapline in the bush with his family before being removed from his parents’ care at around five years of age. He was taken to a Catholic convent and later to two different residential schools, one in Whitehorse and another in northern British Columbia.
The court heard that during his time in residential schools, Atkinson experienced sexual, physical and mental abuse. This trauma resulted in lifelong impacts, including chronic alcohol abuse and suicidal thoughts.
The Gladue factors presented during the hearing will presumably be further fleshed out in the formal Gladue report that Gates has requested.
The matter of Atkinson’s sentencing has been adjourned until Jan. 23.
READ MORE: Ross River man gets tentative sentencing date after manslaughter conviction
Contact Matthew Bossons at matthew.bossons@yukon-news.com