deadmonton 2005 - brandon joseph klein
Brandon Joseph Klein, 20, was beaten to death February 19th, 2005.
Shane Thomas Anderson, 22, was charged with manslaughter.
Trial | verdict | sentencing | family reaction | convicted killer breaks parole.
Brandon Klein grew up in a middle-class family, the second oldest of three boys. His father, Craig Klein, was a construction contractor. He died in 2003 from lung cancer.
Brandon's mother, Karen Cadieux, was an administrator with Edmonton Transit Service. She later remarried but her son struggled with his father's death.
Like many others his age, Klein sought refuge in the false haven of drugs and alcohol.
After developing a crack cocaine habit, Brandon entered a drug treatment program early in 2004. He soon relapsed and tried to quit again in September of that year, finishing a three-week program in Lloydminster.
"He felt so good coming out," his mother said. "He was so convinced he was going to change."
On February 19th, 2005 Brandon found himself at a party in a suite at 4505 137 Avenue. The apartment's principal occupant was in the Edmonton Remand Centre, trying to make bail.
About a dozen people were in the apartment, mixing booze with crack cocaine and other drugs in what neighbours described as a drinking marathon.
Fifteen-year-old Tamara Golden said Klein was drinking vodka and was high on Ecstasy. "He was kind of out of it," she said. "He tripped out over someone taking his cellphone."
Golden said Klein grabbed the chain around her neck but she pulled away and slapped him. He then hit the back of her head and she fell to the floor. That's when a man identified by Golden as "Shane" stepped in.
"You can't hit a girl, man," Golden heard Shane say to Klein.
Golden said she thought Klein was punched twice, but the second blow barely hit his chin. Klein then collapsed.
"Just leave him. He's passed out drunk," Anderson told others at the party.
But soon both Golden and Shane performed CPR on Klein until paramedics arrived. They found Klein unconscious but he wasn't bleeding or badly bruised.
Police thought Klein died of a drug overdose but an autopsy later showed he died of a head injury. His death became Edmonton's sixth homicide of 2005.
The 20-year-old man who rented the apartment said he knew the person police were looking for. A man by the name of Shane had been staying at his place for the past few weeks.
"Shane told me he hit someone," said the man.
The suite's renter said he was making plans to move because police were watching his place.
"I've got my own troubles to deal with."
The man being sought phoned friends from untraceable numbers, telling them he was going to talk to police.
Karen Cadieux said, "The kids are getting angry. I'm worried that they're going to take things into their own hands and I've been telling them, don't do that. Phone the police."
On March 5th, 2005 Shane Thomas Anderson turned himself in. Police charged him with manslaughter.
Trial
Shane Anderson's scheduled two-week trial began on May 1st, 2006.
Court first heard testimony from Monique Dutchin, who lived in the party suite. She testified that she came out of her room when she heard people yelling. She saw Klein falling "limp" onto the floor, gasping for air and turning purple.
Dutchin stated that Klein earlier appeared to be very drunk and unsteady on his feet.
Court then heard testimony from Debra Stone, a tenant in the building where Klein was found dead.
Stone said a girl ran screaming into her apartment saying she had been slapped and that she had asked Shane Anderson to "deal with it" or she would hit him on the head with a hammer.
Stone then saw Anderson in the hallway punching Klein twice in the head. Klein didn't fight back. "I told (Anderson) a couple times to stop," said Stone. "There was no need for this."
Stone said the pair went back into the party suite. Klein sat down but then started complaining that people were talking too loud and he couldn't hear the music. Klein walked into the kitchen and Anderson followed him.
Anderson pushed him and punched him again taking several shots to the head and face, Stone testified. As Klein's body slid to the floor "his eyes looked funny," Stone said. "He didn't look right."
Stone testified that she told people to call an ambulance but the party-goers said Klein had probably passed out. Stone then ran down the hall to call 911.
Alberta's chief medical examiner, Dr. Graeme Dowling, told the court because investigators didn't initially know there had been a physical fight he conducted a different type of autopsy.
Dowling concluded blows to the head caused a brain vessel to rupture, which led to Klein's death.
The medical examiner conceded he was unable to rule out the possibility of Klein suffering an aneurysm.
Such a coincidental event would be possible, Dowling said, but rare.
The examiner's report also showed Klein had traces of alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy in his blood. The court heard his blood alcohol reading was .19 per cent.
Verdict
On May 16th, 2006 Shane Anderson was found guilty of manslaughter and obstructing police.
The obstruction charge arose when Anderson provided a false name and birth date when he was first interviewed by police.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Eric Macklin ruled Anderson had punched Klein at least twice in the cheek or head area and that Klein fell down within 30 to 40 seconds after the blows.
Justice Macklin ruled the girl Klein assaulted wasn't seeking protection but rather punishment.
Macklin said Anderson didn't intend to kill Klein but his behaviour was inexcusable, and the assault could be best described as "chivalrous but misguided."
Anderson was defending neither himself nor the woman when he struck Klein, said Macklin. "He was acting out in anger."
Anderson's defense lawyer, Deborah Hatch, argued he should be released because he already served pre-trial time in the Edmonton Remand Centre.
Persons convicted usually get two-for-one credit due to the Centre's overcrowded conditions. Anderson had been in custody since March 5th, 2005.
Crown prosecutor Anne Schutte asked for further prison time. She said Anderson breached bail conditions several times while awaiting trial and he also lied to police at the scene by giving them a false name.
Karen Cadieux, Klein's mother, said she was relieved upon hearing the verdict.
“We’ve been sentenced to life,” she said. “I would like to see him spend some time in a federal penitentiary.”
Sentencing
On May 19th, 2006 Justice Macklin gave Anderson 3 and-a-half years for killing Klein, and another 3 months for lying to police.
Macklin gave Anderson two-for-one credit for the time served at the Edmonton Remand Centre, which reduced the sentence by 19 months.
The ruling left Anderson with 26 months left to serve.
At the sentencing hearing Macklin said Anderson showed "utter contempt" for the justice system.
He also said he was moved by Klein's mother, Karen Cadieux, who read a victim impact statement in court.
Family Reaction
Outside court Karen and Mike Cadieux felt Anderson's sentence was too short.
"In this world that is becoming more and more violent, we were hoping the judge and the court would see unprovoked violence deserves punishment," said Cadieux.
She told her son's killer in a victim impact statement that he can only comprehend the pain of her profound loss if he has a son of his own someday.
"On his 20th birthday I want you to give him a hug and tell him how much he means to you," said Cadieux.
"Ask him to tell you about his hopes and dreams for his future. Then, think about Brandon. You will at that moment realize how much has been taken from me and Brandon's family and most importantly, from Brandon himself."
In court, Cadieux told of going into the trauma room at the hospital that night after she insisted on seeing her son.
"I hugged his body. I kept laying my head on his chest, I thought, 'I have to stay here just in case his heart beats one more time.' It didn't beat again."
Cadieux said she wasn't sure whether a thirty-nine month sentence sent a strong enough message of deterrence.
She hoped Anderson can learn one day to become a productive member of society.
"My wish for him is that he can go on and have some kind of life and learn from this."
Convicted killer breaks parole
On October 26th, 2007, after completing two-thirds of his 26-month sentence, 25-year-old Shane Thomas Anderson was released to a halfway house to serve the remainder of his term.
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On November 24th, 2007 Anderson fled the facility and was thought to still be in the Edmonton area where he has friends.
Brandon Klein’s mother, Karen Cadieux, was disappointed to learn her son’s killer had not only violated his parole but that he had been released in the first place.
“I’m surprised he’s out already,” she told the Edmonton Sun.
Anderson was not only required to return to the halfway house every night, the National Parole Board also deemed that he stay away from alcohol or drugs upon his release.
The parole board noted alcohol was a factor in the fight that led to Klein’s death.
Cadieux said she’s not surprised at Anderson's breaching of parole.
“After he was charged with the crime of killing my son with violence, he breached his bail several times, and one of those breaches was for getting drunk and being violent,” said Cadieux.
While the woman hoped Anderson had “learned something” while in jail, she was dismayed that no one told her of his release.
“I would have liked to have known,” she said.
A spokesman for the parole board in Edmonton said victims must apply for updates on a convict’s status.
“In fact, victims need to register with the National Parole Board, thereby giving us permission to contact them and then to actually engage them in the parole process,” according to the spokesman.
Anderson had unsuccessfully appealed his conviction in May 2007.
According to authorities in a media statement, Anderson's propensity for violence increases when he has been drinking alcohol.
Within 24 hours of the news of Anderson's breach being made public he was arrested by Edmonton police.