Nicholas Rasberry, who stabbed neighbour 37 times, must begin serving 7-year sentence after appeal dismissed
Rasberry was convicted of manslaughter in 2015
A Calgary man convicted of manslaughter after stabbing his neighbour 37 times will get Easter weekend with his family before he must turn himself in and begin serving his seven-year sentence.
On Thursday, the Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed Nicholas Rasberry's bid for a lesser prison term. He must turn himself in to the Calgary Remand Centre by 10 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Rasberry, 35, fatally stabbed Craig Kelloway in 2013. He had appealed his manslaughter conviction and the sentence he was handed after being found guilty in 2015. Both appeals have now been rejected by Alberta's top court.
"In our view, the sentence of seven-years imprisonment imposed by the trial judge falls within the appropriate range for manslaughter and was a fit sentence," wrote two of the judges.
A third offered a dissenting opinion and would have substituted a five-year sentence.
"Having reviewed the decision, as well as the reasons of the dissenting justice, I'm not in a position at this time to provide a comment because of the prospects of an application for leave to appeal the sentence to the Supreme Court," said Rasberry's lawyer, Gavin Wolch.
In May 2013, Rasberry fatally stabbed his neighbour Craig Kelloway, a teacher who had moved to Calgary six years earlier from Nova Scotia. The killer claimed he did it because Kelloway threatened to have sex with him.
The two met for the first time earlier in the day and had a barbecue together with their significant others. The fatal attack happened after the women went to bed.
At trial, Wolch, argued his client was acting in self-defence and should be acquitted.
Although the judge said he was "skeptical" of the accused's version of events, he couldn't rule out provocation to Rasberry — who was charged with second-degree murder was convicted of the lesser offence of manslaughter.
Kelloway left behind a girlfriend and infant son.
The Supreme Court of Canada has already dismissed Rasberry's conviction appeal application.