Father tells court how deadly botched robbery haunts him

The father of a man stabbed to death during a botched burglary told a Winnipeg courtroom that the killing cut deep into his heart. 

"What has this nightmare done to me? Memories flood my mind during the nights as well as the morning and the days," Harvey Chezick said at a sentencing hearing in Court of Queen's Bench on Tuesday morning.

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Romeo Ryle, 22, was found guilty by a jury in September of the second-degree murder of Justin Chezick, 42. Chezick was found dead inside his fire-damaged Pritchard Avenue home on July 20, 2015.

The minimum sentence for second-degree murder is life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.

On the night of the killing, Ryle was out looking for a home to rob in order to get money for rent, said an agreed statement of facts read at court on Tuesday. 

He broke into Chezick's home through a kitchen window. Once inside, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen to prepare for a violent encounter, Crown prosecutor Melissa Serbin told the court. 

While searching the house for things to steal, Ryle came across Chezick in his bedroom. 

Ryle attacked Chezick, stabbing him the head, neck and torso 38 times, court heard. There were defensive wounds on Chezick's hands and arms but he was quickly overpowered, Serbin said. 

After the stabbing, Ryle continued to walk around the home, finding things to steal. He made three trips to his own house with stolen items, using a grocery cart to transport them, court heard. 

His last time back at Chezick's home, Ryle tried to hide the murder by lighting a blanket on fire on top of Chezick. 

The fire burned through most of the interior of the home, court heard.

'Took the spark out of me'

Harcey Chezick said knowing the violent way his son died haunts him. He said his son was kind, fun and his best friend. 

"It's like an engine with no spark plug. His passing took the spark out of me," he said. 

A victim impact statement from Chezick's daughter Candace was also read into court. The death has left her without a father and also afraid to be alone in her own home, she said.

"I will never get an opportunity again to bond with my dad," she said. 

"He won't be around for my wedding day or meet his future grandkids."

Serbin told Court of Queen's Bench Justice Vic Toews that Ryle should not get parole for 17 years because he hasn't shown remorse for "slashing a victim to his death then calmly stealing" his belongings. 

Defence lawyer Ryan Amy argued Ryle has shown remorse but isn't good at communicating. He pointed to Ryle's difficult childhood and young age and said there is an opportunity for Ryle to reform behind bars. 

Toews said he was concerned by Ryle's violent criminal past and "the fact that he picked up a knife in the home that he broke into, before he knew if anyone was even there."

Toews reserved his decision until March.