A Barrie man convicted of two counts of second-degree murder in the 2017 fatal stabbing of a father and son faces an automatic life sentence and no chance of parole for 10 years.
But family members of Nickolas Pasowisty, 19, and his dad, James Pasowisty, 51, who were killed on Feb. 8, 2017 in their home, had hoped Dyrrin Daley would be convicted of first-degree murder with no chance of parole for 25 years in the killing of the teenager.
“I really wanted first-degree,” said Jennifer Crawford, the partner of the older Pasowisty and the mother of their 10-year-old child, who said James was a great guy.
Despite that, Crawford said she was satisfied with the second-degree murder convictions.
But Nickolas’s mom, Rose Beaton, who became visibly upset as Justice Vanessa Christie described the more than 35 stab wounds each of the men suffered during the attack, said she was shocked.
“I just think it’s sad that they didn’t get the justice that they deserved,” she said following the day-long hearing in which the judge read out parts of her 182-page decision.
Beaton described both her son and his dad as "good people."
Beaton said before the killings, she had an encounter with Daley’s mom, who was her friend, and told her Daley would one day do something bad.
“I told her that she does everything for him and one day someone’s going to say ‘no’ and he’s not going to like it and do something about it. This is exactly what happened. I just didn’t know it was going to happen with my son,” said Beaton.
Daley is scheduled to return to court Nov. 3 for sentencing.
His lawyer, James Harbic, said Daley’s jail sentence will be impacted by the 55 months he’s spent in custody since being charged on Feb. 8, 2017. And there is the possibility that he may also be given credit for having spent that time in jail during the pandemic.
He said he will also carefully review the decision and speak with Daley about next steps.
“It was a very thorough judgment,” he said. “It’s a tough case, a very tragic case.”
During the five-week trial, court heard that James was selling marijuana to supplement his disability income and his son, who was going to school, lived with him.
Daley said he went to their house in the middle of the night to buy marijuana, bringing along a loaded pellet gun, an extendo baton and a special forces tactical flashlight for trade, when he was ambushed.
What exactly happened that night, said Christie, may never be known. But she did determine the Pasowistys had an “open door policy” and Daley went in, using his flashlight, likely as the Pasowistys lay sleeping.
“Mr. Daley was intending to get marijuana one way or the other. He may well have had no intention of meeting anyone but, if he ran into trouble, he was prepared to fight,” she said.
Inside, he was confronted by one of the two men who had woken and a struggle ensued, which is when Daley pulled out his knife.
The two unarmed men then tried to defend themselves as the struggle moved throughout the apartment.
Justice Christie methodically reviewed all of the options, deciding that the accused man’s evidence, which he presented as a witness, was not believable.
His description of what happened in the apartment, she said, did not match up with the evidence found at the scene.
In one example, Christie said Daley testified he was on his back on the ground with James on top of him. But none of the blood which would have stained the ground by that point was found on the jacket he was wearing.
And, she added, one of the injuries which James suffered could not have occurred the way he described from that position on the ground.
After dismissing Daley’s claim that he struck out against the two unarmed men in self defence, she found Crown lawyers Kristin Smyth and Ray Williams also proved that Daley was not provoked into the fatal attack.
“This court does not believe the evidence of Dyrrin Daley as to how events occurred at 54 William. Mr. Daley’s evidence also does not raise a reasonable doubt about whether he was acting in self defence at the time or whether he was provoked,” the judge wrote in the decision.
“From the beginning, Mr. Daley had the upper hand in this struggle as he was able to cause both men numerous and lethal injuries, leaving behind this extremely bloody scene, while he had barely a scratch, except for the injury caused from his own knife, and possibly a bump to his head that caused minor bleeding to the brain,” she said.
“Mr. Daley continued to stab at Nickolas and James until they were seriously injured and unable to fight back. James received 38 sharp force injuries. Nickolas received 35 sharp force injuries.“
Nickolas, she added, was alive for at least the eight minutes that lapsed between the two 911 calls that came from the house in which he was unable to emit any sounds and say what was occurring.
The men’s injuries, the judge concluded, demonstrated that Daley either intended to kill them or intended to cause bodily harm that he knew was likely to kill them.
“The Crown most certainly has proven beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of second-degree murder as it applies to both Nickolas and James Pasowisty,” she announced.
But, she said, the Crown did not make the case for first-degree murder in killing Nickolas. She decided that they had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Daley unlawfully confined the teenager and prevented him from leaving
Christie has ordered a pre-sentence report be drafted to Daley before his sentencing hearing Nov. 3.
