A judge has sentenced Robert Robin Cropearedwolf to three years in prison and three years probation for the manslaughter of former CBC radio producer Michael Finlay.
Ontario court Justice David Porter said in a Toronto courtroom Tuesday that while Cropearedwolf intentionally assaulted the 73-year-old stranger, it was “a simple push or shove which I’m satisfied was not intended to cause serious bodily harm to Mr. Finlay.”
Cropearedwolf pleaded guilty to manslaughter in May in relation to the random attack, which happened on one of the city’s busiest streets on Jan. 24, 2023.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Toronto police received a call for an assault on Danforth Avenue around 3:30 p.m. that day. Finlay was walking westbound on Danforth while Cropearedwolf was walking eastbound with a red-flame mask with a spitfire logo over his face.
There was a small group outside 777 Danforth Ave., and as Cropearedwolf walk through the group, he pushed Finlay — who hit a wooden flower planter on the sidewalk, striking his ribs before falling to the ground.
At first, Finlay declined medical assistance. But officers later observed him in distress a short distance away and called an ambulance. He was diagnosed with two fractured ribs and pneumothorax, also known as a collapsed lung.
He was taken to hospital but discharged two days later. After being discharged, Finlay called 911 to say he was suffering from trouble breathing.
As he was being transported back to St. Michael’s Hospital, he went into cardiac arrest; CPR was performed, but Finlay would never regain consciousness. He was placed on life support and died on Jan. 31, 2023.
An autopsy found that his cause of death was blunt force chest trauma with pre-existing significant cardiac and pulmonary disease.
Cropearedwolf fled the scene on the afternoon of the assault but turned himself in to 52 division one month later. Porter told the court it was not his intention to bump Finlay, recalling the offender’s statement. “I didn’t have force. I had no animosity. Seeing him stumble caused me to panic.”
The judge found that based on the evidence, Cropearedwolf intentionally caused Finlay to hit a planter box but he had no idea at the time that Finlay was vulnerable due to his underlying health condition.
“He was unaware of the age and frailty of his victim. He was reckless in walking down a busy sidewalk with a mask over his face, which obscured his view. He shoved him, but didn’t know he was an elderly, frail person. The force used was at the low end,” Porter said.
“Without the underlying conditions, he might have caused bodily harm, but would have unlikely to have been fatal in a completely healthy individual.”
Porter also noted that Cropearedwolf is remorseful, telling court during the sentencing hearing that he did not intend to harm Finlay.
“In the time that has passed since that day, I have grappled with the irresponsibility and recklessness of his death,” the judge said, quoting Cropearedwolf.
The Crown asked for a sentence of six to eight years in prison, pointing out that Cropearedwolf was on a release order on break-and-enter charges at the time of the assault, and was subsequently convicted.
The defence suggested a suspended sentence and three years probation, noting the minor nature of the underlying assault — “a push, not a punch.”
Porter found that Cropearedwolf was “unaware of the vulnerability of Mr. Finlay. He had no intention of harm or to cause his death.” The judge also found that he is truly remorseful.
Porter called it an aggravating factor that the victim in the case was extremely vulnerable.
“He was going about his business and was entitled to go about his life without being subject to a random assault,” he said.
Porter also pointed out Cropearedwolf’s lengthy criminal record, mostly for property crimes.
“He has lived a life of crime. Sixty-five convictions in Canada and the U.S., for burglary, B and E’s and theft,” he said.
The judge noted Cropearedwolf has a conviction for an assault of an intimate partner, but said he doesn’t have convictions for serious offences.
The judge also took into account the offender’s difficult upbringing. He is an Indigenous man who was placed into child services in Calgary at the age of six-and-a-half because his mother had a serious addiction to alcohol, leaving her homeless.
Court heard that after his mother’s death in 2006, Cropearedwolf increased his use of alcohol and drugs.
“He experienced trauma from his alcoholic mother. Upon her death, he sought refuge in drugs and alcohol,” Porter said, adding that as an Indigenous offender who spent most of his childhood in foster care, Cropearedwolf was traumatized by a life of deprivation and disadvantage.
Porter also ordered Cropearedwolf to perform substantial community service for the harm he caused to the community and said he must make reasonable efforts to seek employment to reintegrate himself into society. He is also banned from having weapons for life.
After credit for pre-sentence custody, Cropearedwolf has approximately 20 months left to serve.