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Roderick Sutherland has been sentenced to a total of seven-and-a-half years for his role in the death of Megan Gallagher.
The sentencing comes a week after final victim statements were read out by Gallagher’s family and friends in Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench.
Sutherland was found guilty by a jury last October of manslaughter, unlawful confinement, and offering an indignity to human remains in connection with Gallagher’s 2020 death. The unlawful confinement conviction was stayed by the Crown, due to Sutherland being found guilty of manslaughter for the unlawful confinement. The court said he can only be sentenced for one of those charges as a result.
The judge ruled on Wednesday that Sutherland will serve five years for the manslaughter charge and two-and-a-half years for the indignity charge to be served consecutively, totalling seven-and-a-half years in prison.
Megan’s father, Brian Gallagher, said in his statement last week there hasn’t been a day he doesn’t relive the horrific death of his daughter since sitting through the cases of the those convicted.
“Writing those victim impact statements is a challenge that I don’t even have words to explain. It takes you back to so many pieces of this five-and-a-half-year journey. Some of them are gut-wrenching,” he said.
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Most statements referred to Megan’s story as one of many missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people (MMIWG2S).
He was the last of those convicted in relation to her death and last to go to trial.
According to the agreed statement of facts from the court, Megan Gallagher was killed in Sutherland’s garage on Weldon Avenue. She arrived at the address early Sept. 20, 2022 and was confined and assaulted.
Her body was then put into a truck before being thrown off the St. Louis Bridge into the South Saskatchewan River on Sept. 21. Her remains were found on the bank of the river, about 105 km northeast of Saskatoon, near St. Louis, on Sept. 29.
The Crown had called for eight to 10 years for Sutherland for manslaughter, served non-consecutively, with two to five years for committing an indignity to human remains.
The defence had called for three-and-a-half years for manslaughter and 18 months for the indignity charge.
Megan’s family said once the trial is over, they plan to launch a foundation in her memory.
“We’re going to fight for victim rights, that their voices need to be heard, they need to be at the bench, and somebody needs to stop the shaming and blaming of the victims at the table as it’s happening in court. They need to stop that,” said Deb Gallagher, Megan’s stepmother.
Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. president Shirley Isbister was at the hearing to read a victim impact statement and announced a scholarship made in Megan’s name.
—with files from Global News’ Grace Miller and Prisha Dev
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