Megan Gallagher’s family, friends read final victim impact statements

Megan Gallagher’s family and friends were back in court Monday for sentencing submissions in Roderick Sutherland’s trial for his role in Gallagher’s death.

For the fifth time, Gallagher’s family and friends stood in Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench to read aloud their stories of pain almost six years after her death.

Megan’s father, Brian Gallagher, said in his statement that there hasn’t been a day when he doesn’t relive the horrific death of his daughter since sitting through the cases of the seven people convicted.

“Writing those victim impact statements is a challenge that I don’t even have words to explain. It takes you back to so many pieces of this five-and-a-half-year journey. Some of them are gut-wrenching,” he said.

Most statements referred to Megan’s story as one of many missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people (MMIWG2S).

“All of us as, Indigenous women, we wonder often, is it going to be my sister, is it going to be my granddaughter?” asked a friend of the family, Kathie Pruden.

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Gallagher said Monday was the first time the judge acknowledged Megan’s ancestry as an Indigenous woman as an aggravating factor in her killing.

“We are all related, we’re all interrelated. That means as a community, if we stand together stronger and we start bringing change, start raising our voices, things like this will not happen anymore,” Saskatoon auntie advocate Dorothea Swiftwolfe said.

A jury found Sutherland guilty of manslaughter, committing an indignity to human remains and unlawful confinement last October.

He is the last of seven convicted in relation to her death.

According to the agreed statement of facts from the court, Megan Gallagher was killed in Sutherland’s garage on Weldon Avenue. She arrived at the address early Sept. 20, 2020 and was confined and assaulted.

Her body was then put into a truck before being thrown off the St. Louis Bridge into the South Saskatchewan River on Sept. 21. Her remains were found on the bank of the river, about 105 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, near St. Louis, on Sept. 29.

The Crown has called for eight to 10 years for Sutherland for manslaughter, served non-consecutively, with two to five years for committing an indignity to human remains.

The defence has called for three and a half years for manslaughter and 18 months for the indignity charge.

“Sentencing is really an art and not a science and the human condition isn’t the same across the board. The circumstances of each offence aren’t the same across the board. So, it’s really up to the judge to look at the principles of sentencing,” defence lawyer Alora Arnold said.

The judge is expected to make a decision on April 22, saying he did not want to prolong the case any longer.

Following the trial, the Gallaghers plan to launch a foundation in Megan’s memory.

“We’re going to fight for victim rights, that their voices need to be heard, they need to be at the bench, and somebody needs to stop the shaming and blaming of the victims at the table as it’s happening in court. They need to stop that,” said Deb Gallagher, Megan’s stepmother.

Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. president Shirley Isbister was at the hearing to read a victim impact statement and announced a scholarship made in Megan’s name.

“I don’t think anybody will ever forget Megan’s name,” Gallagher said.