'He didn't have to go that way': Brother of slain bus driver gives emotional victim impact statement

The brother of slain Winnipeg Transit driver Irvine Jubal Fraser delivered an emotional victim impact statement in court Monday, telling a judge the violent death has left him feeling empty to this day. 

"It's been 2½ years, and it still feels like it happened this morning. But for what?" Dean Byard said in a Winnipeg courtroom. 

"We communicated all the time. We were two peas in a pod. He didn't have to go that way." 

The Crown is asking for a life sentence without parole for 12 years for Brian Kyle Thomas, who was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of the Winnipeg Transit driver. Thomas's defence counsel recommended the same sentence Monday. 

On Jan. 31, a jury found Thomas, 24, guilty of the Feb. 14, 2017, fatal stabbing.

Thomas had pleaded not guilty. During the trial his defence conceded there was no doubt Thomas stabbed Fraser, but argued it was Fraser, 58, who escalated the confrontation.

In court, Byard struggled to read his victim impact statement, at times pausing, holding his hand over his mouth and quietly sobbing. 

"You don't know what you did buddy. You don't really know," Byard said, looking at Thomas.

"I just wish you could make a ruling to bring my brother back." 

Justice Glenn Joyal heard submissions Monday on the appropriate prison sentence for Thomas. 

Several members of Fraser's family were in court Monday morning, including his son and other brothers, who also read out victim impact statements. 

"He never deserved what happened to him," said Tyler Fraser, another of the victim's brothers. "He deserved to go home to his family."

At times during the hearing, Thomas hung his head down or stared at the ground. 

'Terrifying' event for transit drivers

Thomas's trial heard he and Fraser got into a fight after Thomas refused to get off Fraser's bus when it reached its last stop at the University of Manitoba early on Feb. 14. Fraser forcefully removed Thomas from the bus, after which the two fought outside.

An autopsy showed Fraser died from multiple stab wounds, including one in his neck that severed his jugular vein and punctured his trachea.

In court Monday, Crown prosecutor Paul Girdlestone said the most aggravating factor of the stabbing was that Fraser was a public servant with no way of defending himself against the attack. 

"He was vulnerable, in that he had no one to back him up," Girdlestone said, pointing out that Fraser's death was a "terrifying" event for transit drivers in the city. 

"They are often on the front line of the public's anger."

Thomas grew up in 'abysmal' conditions, defence says 

Theodore Mariash, Thomas' defence attorney at his sentencing hearing, said Thomas had a very dysfunctional childhood growing up on Shamattawa First Nation in northern Manitoba. 

Mariash said the conditions in the First Nation while Thomas was growing up were "abyssmal", with extremely high unemployment, addictions, and suicide rates. 

"Why do we let human beings grow up in such a community?," he said. 

As a result, Thomas ended up becoming homeless while living on the streets of Winnipeg, where he was repeatedly victimized, Mariash said. 

Justice Glenn Joyal reserved his decision to a later date.