A sentencing hearing Thursday was another step toward healing for grieving relatives of three Six Nations of the Grand River members who were killed in 2018.
Nicholas Shipman and Jamie Beaver were originally charged with second-degree murder in the triple homicide but each reached deals that included their guilty pleas on lesser charges.
“There is a pain that lingers as a result of these deaths,” said Justice Paul Sweeny in Superior Court in Brantford.
“This is a trauma the whole community must endure.”
Shipman was sentenced to 18 years in prison on top of getting enhanced time-served credit of 4 1/2 years for his custody awaiting trial.
He pleaded guilty last Nov. 5 in Superior Court to three counts of manslaughter. He has been in jail since he was arrested on unrelated charges on Nov. 3, 2018.
Also last Nov. 5, Shipman’s girlfriend, Beaver, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault. She was sentenced Thursday to time served of about 48 months because of her pre-trial custody. She was released Nov. 5 after being in custody since Nov. 12, 2018, on unrelated charges.
An agreed statement of facts says that on, Nov. 4, 2018 , near London, hunters discovered a gray 2006 Chevrolet Silverado, which had been stolen, with three bodies wrapped in blankets, bound with cords and covered by a tent in the bed of the truck. The bodies were of Melissa Trudi Miller, 37, who was seven months pregnant, Alan Porter, 33, and Michael Jamieson, 32,
Post-mortem examinations revealed that Miller died of multiple stab wounds to the chest. Porter died of “multiple sharp force trauma” to his neck and chest, and Jamieson died after being shot in the chest.
All died in the late evening of Oct. 29, 2018, or early morning of the next day at a trailer owned by Kirsten Bomberry on Fourth Line Road in Ohsweken.
Around 11 pm, Miller, Porter, Jamieson, Beaver, Nicholas Shipman and his brother, Vern Shipman, Kirsten Bomberry, and her cousin, Thomas Bomberry, and Victoria Styres were “socializing and consuming alcohol” in the living room of Kirsten Bomberry’s trailer.
A heated argument started between Styres and Miller. Then, Beaver and Miller started a physical fight and Beaver picked up a knife and stabbed Miller once in the chest. Nicholas Shipman then took the knife from Beaver and stabbed Miller four or five more times.
Alan Porter tried to help Miller and Nicholas Shipman struck him in the foot with the knife. Porter was thrown to the floor where Nicholas Shipman stabbed and killed him with the same knife.
While others left or slept, Shipman wrapped the bodies and he and Jamieson carried them to a garage on the property. At some point during the night, Shipman shot Jamieson in the chest.
The case traumatized the Six Nations community, destroyed friendships and caused pain that continues to reverberate across the reserve, according to the families.
The judge listened to nine victim impact statements from weeping relatives who spoke of their anguish at the deaths and the many factors that made things worse for them.
They spoke of being isolated in their own communities after learning who had been charged and who had pretended not to know about the crimes while offering sympathy.
Several touched on the long wait to hear from police about the deaths of their loved ones while rumors swirled.
And they spoke about the fear of retaliation in a small community where everyone is linked or knows each other.
Speaking through a Zoom link, Trudy Miller, the mother of Melissa Miller, talked about the pain of hearing about three bodies that were found outside of London.
“We kind of knew it was her,” she said. “People started coming over. Everybody was saying all kinds of stuff like how she was killed and who did it.
“These young people who knew what was going on – I begged them to talk to the police.”
Sue Jamieson, the mother of Michael Jamieson, spoke of how she was fearful for her own safety after her son’s death. She said supporters would come and sit in her driveway through the night to keep watch over her.
“I placed a cross where my son was murdered. Still to this day it’s difficult to drive past the place.”
Amber Porter, carrying a photo of her brother Alan Porter, said the homicides have “destroyed a lot of relationships”.
“There are friends who no longer talk. It’s divided our community.”
A rare community victim impact statement was also offered by Chasity Martin from Ganohkwasra Family Assault Support on Six Nations. Martin said the agency saw an increase in calls and requests for help after the homicides and that “deep levels of fear” were triggered in the community.
“This was a gruesome act of violence that will be remembered for generations.”
The judge agreed with Martin and added: “There is no sentence that will assist them to overcome their deep sense of loss.”
Sweeny accepted the joint submission for sentencing hammered out by Crown attorney Andrew Falls and lawyers for Shipman and Beaver.
Falls told the judge community trust had been damaged through the traumatic events surrounding the deaths. He noted that Shipman and Beaver each have criminal records and tried to conceal their crimes.
But, added Falls, the guilty pleas help the grieving families move one step closer to seeing accountability in the case and saved the court a complex trial that could have run for months.
Thomas Bomberry, 32, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder regarding the deaths of Miller and Porter.
His trial began last month in Hamilton, and ran into major issues when the Crown’s main witness, Kirsten Bomberry insisted she could remember absolutely nothing from the time of the homicides in her home, including the identify of her cousin, Thomas. It came to a halt when the accused fired his lawyer.
Kirsten Bomberry was also charged as an accessory to murder after the fact for her role in trying to conceal the deaths but successfully argued she had acted out of fear of Shipman. She was acquitted in June 2019.
Thomas Bomberry will return to court to continue his trial with a new lawyer.
Accessory charges against Roland Sturgeon were withdrawn and accessory charges against Shipman’s brother, Vernon Shipman are set for trial in April.
@EXPSGamble