For his role in the arson deaths of three people, and severely injuring another, a Sudbury man has been punished with what is essentially four life sentences.
Liam Stinson, 29, was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in May for the 2021 arson deaths of Guy “Popcorn” Henri, Jasmine Somers and Stinson’s estranged partner, Jamie-Lynn Rose.
Also in May, Stinson was found guilty of arson causing bodily harm against David Cheff, who was forced to jump from a second-story window to escape the blaze.
But as a first-degree murder charge comes with an automatic 25-year sentence — and no chance at parole — the question of the day was what amount of time Stinson would spend incarcerated for causing significant harm to Cheff.
Cheff testified he was left in a coma for eight days after the fire, and that the event “changed me completely, I lost the ability to trust in people,” he said.
Justice R. Dan Cornell said the “devastating effect” on Cheff’s wellbeing was made clear in his evidence.
In their recommendations, Crown counsel, Kaely Whillans and Alana Jay asked the judge for a life sentence for the arson charge, with seven years before parole eligibility, to be served concurrently with the life sentences. Defence counsel Joseph Wilkinson and Liam Thomson submitted only eight years for Stinson.
In his decision, which he read to the court Dec. 11, Cornell said he considered the sentences of the two men Stinson charged with taking Molotov cocktails to the 744 Bruce Avenue residence.
Those men, whose names can’t be made public under a publication ban, were given arson sentences, one for 16 year and the other for 17 years.
But Cornell found Stinson to have much higher “blameworthiness” and said this means his sentence should be higher.
He said his sentence must be proportionate and consider: moral blameworthiness, level of planning involved, and if there were means and motive present.
Cornell found that Stinson was solely involved in planning the arson, instructed the two men to use Molotov cocktails, told them how to get the gasoline and created the devices in his home. When there were concerns raised about the potential for there to be people in the residence, Cornell said Stinson not only knew there would be people there, but that they were under the effects of drugs and likely sleeping, as it was 4:50 a.m.
Any concerns raised by others were dismissed, and Stinson “duped them into believing no one was home,” said the judge.
He said Stinson was the “sole architect of the events, he determined means and method, he had no doubt about foreseeable harm that could come.”
In fact, Cornell alluded to Cheff’s survival only being a matter of luck.
“He had no regard for other occupants, and was quite prepared to have Mr. Cheff perish as well; it was only a measure of good fortune that he escaped and did not die.”
In comparing the sentence to judicial precedents, Cornell said, “Even one factor means life imprisonment, by my count at least six of the factors are present in this case.”
For each count of first-degree murder, Stinson was given a life sentence with no eligibility for parole.
For arson causing the bodily harm of Cheff, he was sentenced to life, with parole eligibility after seven years.
These sentences will be served concurrently, not consecutively, so he will serve 25 years.
Cornell added restitution to the sentence, ordering that Stinson the Greater Sudbury Housing Corporation $333,160.14.
He also ordered a lifetime weapons ban, mandatory submission of DNA to the database, and a non-communication order listing the names of almost 20 witnesses, known associates, victims' families and children, and the mother of his children.
Jenny Lamothe covers court for Sudbury.com