Judge reserves decision on parole period for Winnipeg mass shooter

A judge is taking time to decide how long a mass shooter should serve behind bars before applying for parole.

Jamie Felix, 35, shot and killed five people at a Winnipeg rooming house in 2023.

A jury convicted him in March on five counts of second-degree murder. The offence carries an automatic life sentence with no parole for at least 10 years.

“We say that no increase from the minimum is necessary for Mr. Felix,” defence lawyer Theodore Mariash told a sentencing hearing Thursday.

He said there’s no evidence to suggest his client can’t be rehabilitated and that Felix has been working to atone and address substance use issues that precipitated the slayings.

“Mr. Felix continues to try to work at addressing the root causes of his criminal behaviour,” Mariash said.

“He will receive treatment for his substance abuse. He will seek treatment for his trauma.”

A Crown prosecutor recommended Tuesday that Felix wait the maximum 25 years before he can apply for release, because of the gravity of the crime and public safety concerns.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Alain Huberdeau is to make a decision at a later date.

The trial heard that the shooting happened in the West Broadway neighbourhood in a known drug den.

Those killed were: Crystal Beardy, 34; her sister Stephanie Beardy, 33; Melelek Lesikel, 29; Dylan Lavallee, 41; and Shawn Marko, 56.

The Crown argued that Felix was driven by paranoia after spending days drinking and smoking crack cocaine in the house.

Court heard his father and brother were associated with a gang that operated the drug den, but that Felix had no gang ties.

His brother had given him a bulletproof vest and a handgun, and Felix grew concerned that he was being used as muscle because he had a military background, prosecutors said.

His girlfriend testified that Felix confessed to her about the killings and to trying to kill himself after but that there were no bullets left in the gun.

Mariash said the death of Felix’s twin brother left him with mental health and addictions issues that some of his family members took advantage of.

“It was (Felix’s) family who gave him all the necessary ingredients for this atrocity,” the lawyer said.

Court heard Felix was introduced to drugs and alcohol by his father around age 10. Mariash said the father tried to indoctrinate Felix into the “gangster lifestyle” throughout his life.

Despite this, the lawyer said, his client tried to walk a different path.

Felix pursued and took pride in being in the military. He also attended post-secondary school and worked as a model.

When his twin died in a drug deal gone wrong, Felix turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain, his mother said in a statement read at the hearing.

“Some of the people and environments surrounding him made the journey even more challenging,” said Mary Felix.

“I recognize that these circumstances do not excuse his choices, but I believe they are an important part of understanding his struggles.”

Mariash said that while incarcerated, Felix has focused on mentoring young inmates and addressing his mental health and substance use. He was also put in segregation.

Felix sat silently in the prisoner’s box throughout the hearing and declined to address the court.

Melissa Marko said it would break her family if Felix got anything less than 25 years for parole eligibility.

“It’s supposed to be my brother’s birthday at the end of the month,” she told reporters outside court.

“(Felix) is going to have a lot more birthdays, so I do not feel sorry for this man.”

The Marko and Beardy families, who sat each day through the trial, said they bonded together in the most tragic of circumstances and stand united in calling for justice.

“I just want everything to be over. Right now we’re going through a very difficult time,” said Shawn Marko’s father, Earne Marko.

“It’s just too horrible. It’s hard to understand what it’s like unless it happens to you.”

Beverly Beardy said no amount of prison time is enough to bring back her daughters.

“It’s not going to be justice, what he gets.”