When 18-year-old Dillan Butler walked into Grays Park five years ago after a night of heavy drinking and partying, he did not plan to use the knife he was carrying.
Butler and his friends were loud and a group of teens heard the commotion in the park. The teens followed Butler’s posse, and there was a confrontation when they were asked to be quiet. Butler pulled out his weapon and a fight broke out.
Butler brutally stabbed 15-year-old Deeward Ponte – a defenceless stranger – five times, striking him twice in the heart. Butler also attacked Ponte’s friend, Clifford Mamuad, stabbing him multiple times.
Ponte’s injuries were fatal.
Butler was arrested the next day — Jan. 28, 2008 — and charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder and was looking at a life sentence if convicted. Instead, he pleaded guilty to the lesser offences of manslaughter and aggravated assault and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Released from prison
Butler was granted statutory release from prison shortly before Christmas. His six-year sentence was reduced to three years after he was given double credit for the time he spent in jail before his plea.
Butler served two of those three years. By law, most federal inmates are automatically released after serving two-thirds of their sentence if they have not already been released on parole.
Butler is now living in a Kelowna halfway house, serving his time in the community and trying to adjust to everyday society before his sentence is complete.
Sitting in his small, government-issued room, the soft-spoken young man, now 23, doesn’t make excuses for the crimes he committed and says he understands there is nothing he can say or do to change his violent past, which is laid bare in court records and parole documents.
Butler spent more than four years behind bars, starting with a stint at North Fraser Pretrial Centre before his plea and sentencing.
It was there, according to parole documents, that Butler was involved in numerous fights with other inmates (including a swarming attack), broke institutional rules and was disrespectful toward officers. One altercation left the Burnaby native with an ugly scar across his face and neck.
“I was cut with a razor blade while talking on the phone. I didn’t know the guy at all — just some guy trying to make a name for himself, I don’t know.”
He spent much of his time segregated from the general population.
After sentencing, Butler was sent to medium-security Matsqui Institution. He kept a fairly low profile, but there were concerns about his behaviour, particularly the inmates with whom he associated. He was also found to be running his own canteen, which was against institutional rules.
Butler lasted just over a year at Matsqui before another violent incident got him transferred to maximum-security Kent Institution, home to infamous serial killer Robert Pickton and gangster Jamie Bacon.
Butler appealed the transfer and he bounced between the two institutions for a couple of months, spending time in segregation, but the warden’s decision was ultimately upheld in B.C. Supreme Court.
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Butler explains the reason for his transfer like this: “A kid got stabbed in the triceps and stomach and because I’m a hyper guy and because they didn’t see who did it but I was in the area around the time they put it on me.”
According to the judge who reviewed Butler’s transfer, a video recording that showed the hallway outside where the stabbing took place captured Butler entering and exiting the area in a way “at least consistent with wrongful and surreptitious conduct. The warden clearly relied on that portion of the video to draw an inference that Mr. Butler had been involved in the stabbing that took place on the other side of the door.”
The judge also found that while the stabbing triggered a review of Butler’s security classification, a number of earlier incidents were also referred to as reasons for the transfer. Butler has not been charged in connection with the matter and he is adamant that he has “no knowledge, involvement or responsibility of that incident.”
Investigators also believed that Butler was part of the “drug subculture” and tried to convince a student to bring drugs into the institution.
Butler says his time at North Fraser was by far the worst part of his experience in custody, and once he got to Matsqui life was easier.
“You’re sitting there not knowing when you’re going to get out, if you’re going to get out and what your sentence will be. Once you get sentenced, it’s a breeze.”
Butler admits that once you know your date of release, not even the worst punishment — segregation — has any real effect.
“I actually prefer it. It’s quiet and I don’t have to deal with the other guys,” he says of his time in segregation.
Although Butler admits that he “coasted once in medium,” prison is not an experience he would recommend.
“It’s like watching the world but you’re not allowed to be a part of it. It’s not worth it.”
‘Grown up’
Butler realizes that some people may think he “should be segregated from society forever.”
The parole board found that after spending two years in prison, Butler still had an anti-social attitude, lacked remorse and struggled to control his anger and impulsive behaviour.
“I understand the hesitation that comes with the images portrayed by the media, the events and the severity of the crime and I can agree with people that would say, ‘Don’t release this person, he’s a convicted criminal.’”
Butler, however, insists he’s changed.
He says rehabilitation is a process and most people don’t know what a convicted criminal goes through in order to be released.
While incarcerated, Butler finished high school, began learning Russian – an interest sparked by his Ukranian background – and took university-level business and accounting classes. He also took programs.
“I’ve definitely grown up. It’s hard to explain the specifics in how I’ve grown . . . but the events have shaped me and I know I have more personal development in my choices. I recognize I need a whole facelift on my lifestyle and to start all over.”
Butler doesn’t expect sympathy and understands that his crime is part of who he is now. He says he is using his troubled past to make the right decisions and propel himself toward a better future.
“Living with the thought that I’m the sole reason responsible for taking someone’s life is awakening to the fact that life is definitely fragile and time is very precious.”
The victims
The family of Deeward Ponte suffered an incalculable loss.
His mother, Daisy, brought her son and daughter over from the Philippines in 2006 after spending five years in Canada working as a caregiver. Ponte was struggling in school, but he had many friends and she described him as a good boy.
“We were poor, very poor and that’s why I decide to come to Canada, to give them a better future,” Daisy told The Province the day after her son’s death.
In a victim-impact statement, Daisy called her son’s death an act of “senseless violence.”
“After Deeward’s fatal stabbing, there was never a day in my life that is not filled with utter sadness, a sadness that is debilitating,” Daisy told the court.
Ponte’s stepfather, Keith Blais, told reporters that the six years Butler received “doesn’t seem to be significant punishment for the mother of the boy who lost his life.”
Butler claims he attempted to reach out to Ponte’s family while in prison, but they chose not to accept his request to make contact.
“I’m always open to that,” Butler says of his offer to meet with the family.
Attempts to reach Ponte’s family for an interview for this story were unsuccessful.
Taking it slow
Butler is obviously happy to be out on parole, yet restrains himself from being overly excited or eager to do too much.
“I’m not thinking I’m completely free.”
He is reminded of that fact by special conditions placed on his release “to protect society,” such as abstaining from alcohol and drugs, following a treatment plan and living in the halfway house.
Butler’s family has remained supportive and very much a part of his life. His mother lives in Kelowna, which has helped ease his transition to life on the outside. If Butler adjusts well during his release, he could stay in the community until his sentence expires this December.
Butler plans to continue with post-secondary education in the fall and has secured a drilling job in the Yukon.
He says that watching other inmates go in and out of prison made him recognize he needed to change.
“You sit there in a jail room with 60 guys and realize we’re all losers. We all lost.”
“I’m not going back to jail. It’s not an option.”
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