Matthew Sudds's accused killer has a violent past
Preston Mulligan | CBC News | Posted: March 13, 2017 10:27 PM | Last Updated: March 14, 2017
Ricardo Jerrel Whynder, 32, was arrested last week in Surrey, B.C.
The man accused of first-degree murder in the death of Matthew Sudds has a violent past, Parole Board of Canada documents reveal.
Halifax police say 32-year-old Ricardo Jerrel Whynder was arrested Friday without incident in Surrey, B.C.
He has arrived in Halifax to answer to charges related to Sudds's killing, marking the next chapter in what has been a long and violent history.
Taxi driver shooting
In 2002, Whynder was sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison for shooting taxi driver Ronnie Lambert.
Whynder was 17 at the time of the shooting but was tried in adult court. Parole documents say Lambert required hospitalization and surgery.
Although he survived, the shooting left him blind, unable to work and reliant on help from others to get by.
The documents make a point to mention that Whynder was completely sober during the attack.
'Violent impulses'
The violence didn't stop when Whynder was in prison.
Parole hearing documents say Whynder was convicted of aggravated assault after stabbing a fellow inmate with a shank, puncturing the man's lung.
Also while in prison, Whynder was convicted of assaulting two corrections officers.
Those crimes added to the length of his sentence.
The parole board wrote that Whynder demonstrated difficulties controlling "violent impulses."
'Likely to commit an offence' if released early
Whynder had six parole hearings during his time in prison, all of which concluded that if was released early he would be "likely to commit an offence causing the death of, or serious harm, to another person."
He was released from prison in April 2013.
Sudds's body was found off Africville Road in Halifax, near the shores of the Bedford Basin, in October 2013.
Police said the 24-year-old was shot to death.
Whynder appeared in a Halifax court on Tuesday and is due back in court on March 24.
He has an unrelated court date on March 22 in Dartmouth to answer to charges of drug trafficking.