The unprovoked and vicious killing of a man described as a friend has resulted in a seven-year prison sentence for a Rocky Mountain House-area man.
Darcy John Lightfoot, 30, will serve another six years and 55 days in prison after being credited for time served during a Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench sentencing on Thursday.
Lightfoot, who showed no emotion while being sentenced by Justice Monica Bast, pleaded guilty recently to manslaughter in the brutal revenge-driven killing on a First Nations Reserve near Rocky Mountain House.
Lightfoot was one of six people originally charged in the Sept. 18, 2010, death.
Gordon Marlice Strawberry, 45, was beaten with fists and a board, stomped on and stabbed on the O’Chiese First Nation Reserve, located 53 km northwest of Rocky.
Lightfoot was originally charged with second-degree murder.
He has been in custody since three days after the death.
The other five people charged begin a month-long preliminary hearing on Tuesday in Red Deer provincial court.
Bast said the victim was attacked during a house drinking party shortly after one of the people said “this guy killed Edgar.” Edgar Strawberry, 17, was stabbed to death by his relative Gordon Strawberry in 2003 on the reserve.
Gordon Strawberry served four years in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter in 2004.
Crown prosecutor Robin Joudrey said earlier that Gordon Strawberry suffered a brutal beating. He had numerous bones broken and his face was slashed with a knife. He was also stabbed in the eye.
He was hammered with a board, had his head stomped on and several people urinated on his battered body while it lay outside the residence. The victim also had his braid cut off. He was found outside wrapped in a thin blanket and a rug.
Joudrey told the judge that Lightfoot didn’t start the attack but went to the kitchen to retrieve a knife, which he used to slash Strawberry’s face after kicking him while he was down.
Bast said the knife attack was an aggravating factor, as was the fact Lightfoot was the victim’s friend.
Bast also said another aggravating factor was Lightfoot’s lengthy record. He has numerous convictions for violence, including sexual assault. Lightfoot has had 28 convictions since 2004 and served jail time for all of them.
Joudrey called earlier for a sentence of six to eight years.
Defence lawyer Walter Kubanek argued earlier that Lightfoot should receive a maximum of six years.
Kubanek said Lightfoot had a tragic upbringing, bouncing around foster homes and suffering severe burns in a house fire when he was a young teenager, confining him to hospital for six months.
He said alcohol has plagued Lightfoot since he was a youngster.
The other accused are all charged with second-degree murder.
Preliminary hearings are held to determine if there’s enough evidence to warrant the accused stand trial in Queen’s Bench.
Cameron Paul Strawberry, 37, Terrence Andy Beaverbones, 21, Evan Everest Foureyes, 21, Jenny Olivia Beaverbones, 26, and Malvina Jean Beaverbones, 36, all remain in custody.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com