A major outburst erupted in a Saskatoon courtroom on Thursday as a Nathan Joseph pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2014 death of Dustin Boulet.
Words exchanged between Boulet’s father and someone there to support Joseph caused the frenzy, prompting half-a-dozen police officers to arrive on-scene and stay at the courthouse so proceedings at the Court of Queen’s Bench could continue.
READ MORE: Man sentenced to two years for role in Dustin Boulet’s stabbing death
Joseph, 30, was originally charged with second-degree murder in the death of Boulet.
He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter and two counts of aggravated assault.
“The Boulet family clearly has been impacted in a way that’s profound,” senior Crown prosecutor Michelle Baldwin said.
“That came out today in court, sort of built up to today. There was some tension and anxiety and I’m just hopeful this little bit of resolution will help the Boulet family move forward a little bit and start healing.”
Glenn Boulet, Dustin’s father, was hoping for a 20-year sentence for Joseph and told court he no longer looks forward to anything in life since his son’s death and lives without a spirit.
“Life doesn’t go on and the courts don’t help any healing whatsoever,” Joseph said.
The victim’s family says the justice system has failed them and to make matters worse the accused was in the country illegally.
READ MORE: Manslaughter guilty plea in Dustin Boulet murder
The way Boulet died says a lot about who he was as a person.
Court heard on March 1, 2014, he suffered a fatal stab wound outside Bridges Ale House while trying to break up a fight. What was supposed to be a celebration of his life, a birthday party with 20 friends would lead to his death.
Two other friends were also stabbed, all at the hands of Joseph after his friend picked a fight with the group.
“Nothing is really going to make the family of a victim who has been killed happy,” said Baldwin.
“But it’s the Crown’s job to review the evidence and to make a determination of what the appropriate outcome is and in this instance after a thorough review of all the evidence, it became pretty clear that the appropriate outcome was a plea to manslaughter.”
At the time of the incident, Joseph had no criminal record and months before had been slashed across the throat at random, reporting the incident to police.
The aggravating factors in the case were that he did not stop stabbing at just one individual and fled the scene of the crime.
“They call it manslaughter – it was murder,” said Glenn Boulet.
“The court system and the justice system has failed this community and my son and my family once again.”
To make matters worse said Glenn, was Joseph was here illegally, on the loose for two years and authorities knew it.
Joseph declined to make a statement to the court when asked if he wanted to speak. He was handed a 10-year sentence for Boulets death and one year for each aggravated assault to be served concurrently.
He has five years, eight months left to serve after factoring in time served on remand and will be eligible for parole in five years. Upon the completion of his prison time in Canada, Joseph will be deported back to Saint Lucia.
“I understand that he will not serve any parole in this country,” said the Crown.
“We can’t put conditions on somebody who doesn’t live in Canada so that’s the concern, that’s why the Crown raised it today and asked for that ancillary order – unlike a Canadian citizen he wouldn’t have to serve parole.”
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