CALGARY — A woman has been sentenced to 60 days in jail for her part in an alcohol-fuelled attack on her former boyfriend that ended in her brother’s death.
Angela Eriksen, the mother of a three-year-old girl, is to serve her sentence on weekends. She also faces one year of probation.
“Your degree of involvement here was far less than the men directly involved, but it facilitated to some extent what took place,” Justice Marsha Erb said Thursday.
“The most aggravating factor here is the tragic loss of human life so needlessly.”
Erb ordered Eriksen to undergo anger management, grief and relationship counselling. She also imposed a curfew.
In its sentencing argument, the Crown characterized Eriksen as a jilted woman bent on revenge. She was seven months pregnant when she gave her intoxicated brother and his friend a ride in the middle of the night to the home of Dan Olineck in Langdon, Alta.
Eriksen’s brother, Lance Norton, was killed when the two men broke into Olineck’s home and he defended himself with a knife.
The defence argued Eriksen never asked her brother to beat up her ex and was simply the wheelwoman in an encounter that turned out “much worse than anyone anticipated.”
Court heard that the men, who were wearing masks, wanted to confront Olineck and get even with him for dumping Eriksen.
During the attack, Olineck grabbed a knife from a bedside table and defended himself against the intruders, stabbing Norton to death and seriously injuring Hansen.
Olineck, who was not charged with any crime, testified that he had recently broken up with Eriksen and that her family was furious.
“A plan was acted upon. The assault occurred. The dogs are unleashed and someone dies,” prosecutor Tom Buglas said.
“How can that not be an aggravating factor? Miss Eriksen was angry over her pregnancy and broken relationship,” Buglas said.
“She wanted him taught a lesson by illegal means. This was vigilante justice.”
Eriksen pleaded guilty in March to assault causing bodily harm. Hansen pleaded guilty to the home invasion and is serving seven years in prison.
On Thursday, she sat with her head bowed in the prisoner’s box and wiped away tears with a tissue.
Buglas argued that Eriksen should serve 12 months in jail and another two or three years on probation. He said there were a number of aggravating factors that warranted a stiffer sentence.
Buglas said Eriksen was a willing participant and was waiting in a car outside.
Defence lawyer Kim Ross said his client has accepted responsibility for her role and regrets her actions.
“Nobody foresaw that result and Ms. Eriksen has to live with that for the rest of her life.”
Ross suggested Eriksen be given a suspended sentence.