A convicted murderer in a 19-year-old Hells Angels shooting in Dartmouth is eligible for parole, after serving a little over 18 years behind bars.
Dean Kelsie, 45, appeared in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Friday, where Judge Jamie Campbell accepted a joint recommendation from the Crown and defense that he be eligible for parole on his life sentence for second-degree murder.
“There’s really nothing I can say to the family that they’ve not already heard,” said Campbell as he announced his decision. “I’m sorry for what’s happened.”
Kelsie is the accused shooter in the murder of Sean Simmons in the north end of Dartmouth on Oct. 3, 2000. Three others, including Kelsie’s uncle Wayne James, were convicted in the crime, although only two of those convictions still stand.
Simmons family, including his widow, sister, daughter and son read tearful victim impact statements in court on Friday, and told the judge they had “no mercy” for their relative’s killer.
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“October 3, 2000 marks the worst day of my life,” said Jylene Johnston, Simmons’ daughter, reading from her statement. “It has been a nightmare of trials, newspaper articles and memories never made ever since.
“Nineteen years of missed holidays, birthdays, celebrations, graduations, births, and honestly, the thing I miss most: normal days.”
Simmons was 31-years-old at the time of his death and employed as a steamship checker. He had a wife and two young children, and today, has four grandchildren.
The court heard that he was a dedicated father who kept his addiction struggles away from his kids and was committed to a path towards healing. His late mother wrote in a statement read by the Crown that he was a “humorous, active, happy, young man” who was “determined to fix himself.”
Family expressing frustration
While she was not permitted to speak to Kelsie directly, Simmons’ widow, Jylene Simmons, sent him a message in her statement:
“I want the court to know that this convicted murderer did not break this family, and we are a family that will not be broken. We have taken this crime and our love and grief, and used it to bind and solidify us in our love and respect for each other, more and more with each passing day.”
The family expressed anger toward Kelsie, frustration with the justice system, and distaste for the way the case has been covered by media.
As statements were read, Kelsie sat in between two sheriffs, expressionless. He declined the opportunity to speak, but asked his attorney Alison Craig to read a statement on his behalf.
In the statement, Kelsie begged for mercy and forgiveness. He said he was “deeply sorry to have been involved,” and waned a chance to “right this wrong.”
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According to an agreed statement of facts, Kelsie was 27-years-old at the time of the murder. Simmons’ killing was ordered by Neil Smith, a “full-patch” member of the Hells Angels, for tensions stemming back to the mid-1990s between Simmons and the notorious biker gang.
Simmons is said to have had an affair with an outlaw biker’s girlfriend.
In exchange for reducing their debt owed to him, Smith charged two of his partners in a drug-dealing business – Kelsie’s uncle, Wayne James, and Paul Derry – with arranging Simmons’ murder. Another man, Steven Gareau, was tasked with tracking Simmons down.
‘He would have to pull the hammer back on the gun’
When Simmons was located on Oct. 3, 2000, James and Gareau went to James’ girlfriend’s house, and returned with Kelsie, and a gun.
All three went to Dartmouth, accompanied Derry’s wife, Tina Potts. During the ride, the gun was handed to Kelsie, along with directions on how to kill Simmons.
“He was told he would have to pull the hammer back on the gun before firing each round,” reads the statement. “The Accused agreed and asked for gloves.”
Kelsie and Gareau walked into the lobby of the Trinity Drive apartment building, where Simmons came down to meet them. He was shot in the foyer, and his body was found there by police with two bullet wounds; one in the forearm and the other in the back of his head.
Craig, the Crown attorney, told the court on Friday that Kelsie was addicted to crack-cocaine at the time and high on the substance during the act.
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Kelsie was first convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in 2003, and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 25 years. But that conviction was overturned by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal last year, and a new trial was ordered.
The appeal court ruled that a trial judge erred in his instructions to the jury, particularly when it came to what the jurors could make of hearsay evidence from co-conspirators. The appeal ruling also said the trial judge should have mentioned manslaughter to the jury as an alternative verdict.
But the Public Prosecution Service in Nova Scotia sought an appeal of that ruling before the Supreme Court of Canada, hoping to have both of the original convictions reinstated.
Being eligible to apply for parole
In March, the high court decided a new trial was not necessary, upheld Kelsie’s conspiracy conviction, and reduced the first-degree murder conviction to the lesser charge of second-degree murder, rather that restart the trial process altogether.
“As of today, the accused had 18 years and three days shy of two months in custody,” said Crown attorney Peter Craig (no relation) in Halifax on Friday.
“We jointly agreed that his time served would effectively be our joint recommendation for parole ineligibility, which practically means that as of today, the accused is eligible to apply for parole.”
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Craig said court process has been taxing in Simmons’ family, which has been forced to endure trial after trial over nearly two decades. They accepted that Kelsie would now be eligible for parole, he told reporters.
“They’ve been through a unique ordeal given the procedural history of these cases,” he said. “With the four accused, they have been before the courts virtually continuously since October 2000.
“They wrote some of the most poignant and eloquent victim impact statements that would reflect their own history with this case and it was very compelling.”
A parole board will determine whether Kelsie is granted parole, once he chooses to apply for it. Alison Craig, the defense attorney, told the court that during his incarceration, Kelsie has completed his entire correctional plan and his high school diploma, and has reconnected with his Indigenous roots.
With files from The Canadian Press