When murderer Dyrrin Daley is finally eligible to apply for parole on his life sentence, Jennifer Crawford plans to be waiting with her son.
“Me and Jude will be there... making sure he stays in there,” she said outside the Barrie courtroom Thursday immediately after the sentence was handed down. “We don’t want him to get out.
“People like that who can snap in a heartbeat and kill somebody, that’s not the type of people we need in our world just walking around," Crawford added.
Crawford’s partner and her now-11-year-old son’s father, 51-year-old James Pasowisty, along with his son, 19-year-old Nickolas Pasowisty, were repeatedly stabbed in their Allandale apartment on Feb. 8, 2017 and left to die.
Daley, 28, was found guilty in August of two counts of second-degree murder.
In passing sentence on Thursday, Justice Vanessa Christie of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice announced that Daley will serve 18 years of his life sentence before he’s eligible for parole, adding that eligibility means he can apply for parole but may not necessarily get it.
“The fact remains that his sentence is a life sentence. Even if eventually granted parole, Mr. Daley will remain on parole, subject to supervision, for the rest of his life,” Christie told the court.
The sentencing period, she added, began on Feb. 8, 2017, when he was arrested. He has remained in custody ever since.
Rose Beaton, mother of Nickolas Pasowisty and who remained good friends with his dad after the couple split up, said even now, nearly five years after the father and son were killed, she is unable to put it behind her.
“It will always be a part of me, I guess,” she said tearfully after the sentencing. “I just pray for strength and put one foot in front of the other and know there are better days ahead.”
The judge found earlier that the Pasowistys were likely sleeping when Daley — armed with a flashlight, a loaded pellet gun, a baton and a double-bladed three-inch knife — went into their unlocked apartment on William Street that snowy February night almost five years ago.
Daley got his marijuana supply from the elder Pasowisty almost daily and had known the pair for many years, having all lived together when James Pasowisty was dating Daley’s mom.
One way or another, the judge found, Daley was determined to get marijuana that night.
The judge had rejected Daley’s account that he was jumped by the two men and was only defending himself when he stabbed them a combined 73 times.
“The actions of Mr. Daley, in taking the lives of Nickolas and James Pasowisty, was vicious, excessive and brutal,” Christie said during the hybrid hearing, which Daley followed via Zoom from jail.
“It would be impossible for this court to truly convey the suffering those close to Nickolas and James Pasowisty experience day after day,” the judge added. “The family and friends of Nickolas and James Pasowisty have had their lives changed forever.”
She noted he told at least four different accounts over the years about what happened that winter night.
Daley, she recalled, is of mixed racial heritage, born in Edmonton. His parents split up not long after they moved to Ontario when he was young and he variously spent time with his mom in Barrie and his dad, who was living in Kingston at the time.
Christie referred to a series of assessments done over the years after Daley was identified as having a learning disability and was also diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD).
Although he dropped out of high school, Daley later earned his certificate and had applied to Seneca College’s music program just before the killings.
The judge described him as being “cold and callous” following his arrest when he blamed everyone but himself.
But she found the letters filed with the court in support of Daley this summer indicate a support system likely awaits him if he does win parole, something not everybody has. And she found the letter of apology Daley read into the court during his sentence hearing and in earlier testimony did demonstrate genuine remorse.
Christie indicated Daley has a good prospect for rehabilitation if he faces his issues and strongly encouraged him to get the support he needs while incarcerated.
“It’s just a tragic and sad case,” concluded Crown attorney Ray Williams, adding he believes justice was done.
Defence lawyer James Harbic, who also followed the sentence remotely via Zoom, could not be reached for comment by BarrieToday.
