Family of Cape Breton man killed 5 years ago upset over virtual hearing

Family members of a Cape Breton man who was killed nearly five years ago are upset that the man who pleaded guilty in their relative’s gruesome death will not be physically in court to hear victim impact statements.

Joseph Evong, who has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of 41-year-old Stephen Rose, will make a virtual appearance instead of being in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Sydney to hear the statements.

Sara Planetta, Rose’s ex-wife and mother of three of his four children, was among a number of family members who told CBC News this week that Evong should hear what Rose’s loved ones have to say in person.

“It doesn’t come across as meaningful if we don’t get to say it to the person themselves,” Planetta said outside the courtroom Wednesday where a pre-sentence hearing was held.

“Like, he’s going to be on a TV screen or on a telephone? That’s not fair.”

According to testimony in Evong’s pre-sentence hearing, Rose died in a Sydney apartment on Nov. 5, 2019, after being stabbed dozens of times. 

Evong, 42, and Jessica Anne MacDonald, 38, were both charged with first-degree murder, but each pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Virtual appearances

Evong is being permitted to appear virtually on Tuesday because his Halifax-based lawyer will also not be physically present in court in Sydney. Supreme Court Justice Joshua Arnold will also appear virtually. Arnold said during the pre-sentence hearing that he is booked on other cases and cannot be in Sydney when the victim impact statements are read.

Crown attorney Rochelle Palmer said nearly five years after the killing, everyone wants the case resolved. Using technology to appear virtually “sometimes is the way in which that can be accomplished,” she said.

The pre-sentence hearing this week was known as a Gardiner hearing, in which a judge rules on facts that are in dispute.

MacDonald, Evong’s co-accused, was grilled Tuesday on her recollection of the facts, and she revealed details that had previously been under a publication ban.

According to the agreed facts, MacDonald and Evong had been drinking the night Rose died.

He was found dead by firefighters inside a Rotary Drive apartment in Sydney after a nearby unit triggered an alarm and caused the couple to flee.

Agreed facts, others in dispute

MacDonald, the apartment’s tenant, admitted she stabbed Rose in the back of the neck once after he and Evong began fighting with knives.

Evong admitted he stabbed Rose at least once, saying he had “got him in the liver.”

But Evong’s lawyer said evidence showed Rose had been stabbed dozens of times in the back of the neck and the upper back, wounds he suggested were caused by MacDonald.

He also pointed out numerous discrepancies in MacDonald’s testimony this week, which differed greatly from her statement to police in 2019.

Arnold said some of MacDonald’s testimony “may be problematic.”

Arnold is expected to review trial testimony from the medical examiner and police, along with briefs from the Crown and defence on which facts should be considered, and will rule on those before Dec. 11, when Evong is scheduled for final sentencing.

MacDonald’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 8.

The pair had separate defence lawyers and separate murder trials that ended with the manslaughter pleas.

Details of those court cases were kept under wraps until earlier this year to protect the accused’s right to a fair trial.

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