Toronto Star

Man sentenced to 3 years for fatal assault

Retired CBC producer died after falling into a wooden planter in 2023 attack on Danforth

Lesley Murray believes that her late cousin Michael Finlay would have agreed with the three-year jail sentence handed down Tuesday to the man who shoved and killed him in a random incident on an east-end Toronto sidewalk.

With credit for time served in custody since his arrest last year, 45year-old Robert Cropearedw­olf still has about 20 months left on his sentence for manslaught­er, to be followed by three years of probation. “He always wanted the best for people, and I think that he would want the best for Mr. Cropearedw­olf,” Murray told reporters outside court after the sentencing.

“I do hope that rehabilita­tion helps (Cropearedw­olf) in the long run, so that he has a better life for himself. Clearly, he’s not happy, and I just hope that things work out for him.”

Cropearedw­olf pleaded guilty to manslaught­er in May for knocking the 73-year-old retired CBC producer to the ground in a random incident on a Danforth Avenue sidewalk, near Jones Avenue, in January 2023. It was one in a string of random fatal attacks in Toronto at the time.

Holding a red-flame mask to his face, Cropearedw­olf had walked through a group of people on the sidewalk, pushed Finlay, and fled. Finlay fell into a large wooden planter, and died of his injuries several days later.

The cause of death was bluntforce chest trauma compounded by pre-existing “significan­t cardiac and pulmonary diseases,” according to a post-mortem report, which concluded it was “very unlikely” that the chest injury would have killed a healthy individual.

Ontario Court Justice David Porter concluded in his sentencing decision Tuesday that Cropearedw­olf never intended to hurt or kill Finlay by pushing him, with force that the judge found to be fairly minor. He would have been unaware of Finlay’s age and frailty because his view was blocked by the red-flame mask, Porter said, nonetheles­s noting that walking with the mask held up to his face was reckless.

“This was not a deliberate attack on an elderly man,” the judge said. “I find that Mr. Cropearedw­olf is truly remorseful for having caused Mr. Finlay’s death.”

At his sentencing hearing in July, Cropearedw­olf told the court in an emotional statement that he was “truly and honestly sorry” for his actions.

“I beat myself up every day for his death,” he said. “I’m doing everything I possibly can to change myself to become a positive and responsibl­e person.”

Crown attorney Meghan Scott was pushing for a six- to eight-year jail sentence, emphasizin­g the seriousnes­s of the offence and Cropearedw­olf’s lengthy criminal record in Canada and the United States, mostly involving breaking and entering conviction­s. Defence lawyer Talman Rodocker was asking for a suspended sentence — no further jail time — and probation, pointing to the brevity of the incident and the fact that Cropearedw­olf is an Indigenous man who had a traumatic childhood.

Joining the calls for no further jail time was Finlay’s brother, who asked Porter for leniency in a victim impact statement submitted to the court.

“Although I believe Mr. Cropearedw­olf’s assault to have been a reckless and cruel act of elder abuse, and although it deprived me of my dear brother Michael, I do not believe that it was the assailant’s intention to kill Michael,” James Andrew Finlay wrote.

“Additional­ly, my understand­ing is that Mr. Cropearedw­olf has spent more than a year in prison since his apprehensi­on. Were I his judge, I would not inflict further punishment upon him.”

Cropearedw­olf spent his childhood in a variety of foster and group homes, as he couldn’t be cared for by his alcoholic mother, and his father was not in his life. The judge found Cropearedw­olf’s lengthy criminal record must be understood in the context of the “emotional deprivatio­n that dominated his early life.”

The judge also considered that Finlay was an “extremely vulnerable” victim.

“He was entitled to live his life without being subjected to a random assault by anyone, let alone one that had such tragic consequenc­es for Mr. Finlay and for the community at large,” Porter said.

A longtime friend of Finlay’s told reporters she found Porter to be very fair in his decision.

“I agree there had to be a custodial sentence … in order to take into account the fact that vulnerable people are going to feel difficult and scared and apprehensi­ve about the fact that they could be pushed down and killed at any moment randomly on the streets,” Lesley Krueger said.

“(Cropearedw­olf ) has had a tough time, there’s no doubt about that. He’s committed many, many, many offences over the years. I hope rehabilita­tion follows.”