3 days ago
Family of Moncton casino manager give victim impact statements in manslaughter trial
The daughter of a casino manager who died two years ago after an assault by a customer told a Moncton courtroom Wednesday how her father's death has changed her life.
"The joy has been stolen from my life," Krystel Frenette said, standing in front of several benches where her father's loved ones sat in Moncton's Court of King's Bench.
"He was not just a victim or a case number, he was my dad. He was my mother's rock."
Her statement was one of the eight victim impact statements that Justice Christa Bourque received during the sentencing hearing for Michael Glaspy of Riverview.
Glaspy was found guilty in June of manslaughter in the death of Frenette in March 2023 after the two of them got into an altercation at the pub inside Casino New Brunswick in Moncton.
It was the first time Frenette's family spoke in court in the more than two years since Glaspy was charged,
Frenette, who was 56 when he died, was working as a food and beverage manager at the casino at the time. After being assaulted by Glaspy, he fell backward and hit his head on the floor. He died 24 days later in a Moncton hospital.
Constance Frenette, Rodney's sister, said she still has "flashbacks" of her brother's stay in a Moncton hospital after the assault as he lost brain function.
"For the first 13 days, he was in severe pain, rarely opened his eyes and spoke very little," she told the court. "I remain tormented by his suffering and loss of dignity."
Frenette's wife of 35 years, Marie-France, cried in the front row as her sister-in-law's statement was read.
"It is difficult to feel normal again and put all this behind you," Constance said.
WATCH | Michael Glaspy sentencing to come in September:
Krystel Frenette, addressing Glaspy directly in her statement, said he "robbed her" of a future with her father. Having recently gotten married, she said, she had to walk herself down the aisle, and her father won't be able to meet her future children.
Glaspy also had the opportunity to speak in court. Through tears, he looked at the family on the other side of the court and said, "I'm sorry for all that is happened. I truly am, sorry."
He then sat down in the prisoner's box, sobbing with his face in his hands.
Crown seeking 3 to 5 years in prison
Crown prosecutor Marc-André Desjardins sought a sentence of three to five years in a federal prison for Glaspy.
Manslaughter, a homicide that is not intentional, carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and there is no minimum.
A conviction can fall on a spectrum from near-accident to near-murder.
Desjardins told Bourque that Glaspy's offence "falls closer to the middle" of that spectrum.
Defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux recommended two years minus one day, with time be served in the community — also known as a conditional sentence.
Lemieux said Glaspy was remorseful, and "there are all kinds of possibilities of fashioning a sentence without the need for separating him from society."
Bourque told the court she still needs time to think about her decision.
"Manslaughter cases are the most difficult cases that a sentencing judge will have to decide," she said. "I'm not ready to give my decision now, this is a complicated case."
She is expected to deliver the sentence on Sept. 8.
