A daughter forever scarred and haunted by nightmares, a son who no longer trusts anyone, a granddaughter who has never been more emotionally damaged — these are some of the victims left in the wake of murder.
They are the family members of Kenneth Edwards, who was brutally killed in March 2017 at the hands of Darcy Sheppard.
Sheppard, 32, pleaded guilty in June to second degree murder, arson and causing indignity to human remains. He was sentenced on Oct. 7 by Judge Dan Cornell to a life sentence with no chance of parole for 17 years. He is banned for life from owning any weapons, he must submit a DNA sample and he is not to have any communication with a number of Edwards' family members.
A fourth charge, theft under $5,000, was withdrawn.
Before Sheppard was taken off to jail, he had to sit through seven victim impact statements from people his crimes affected.
Jennifer Edwards said she got a message from her father several days before he was murdered. He was about to turn 60, and he was excited for the celebration. She never got to return that phone call.
She said her family has forever changed after suffering the loss of her father.
“It's all consuming,” she said. “It's in every thought, feeling and emotion. I have been robbed of a future with my dad. I'm angry at Darcy Sheppard and his decision, and I'm saddened by the aftermath it has had on my children.”
Following Sheppard's sentencing, Jennifer Edwards said while she's satisfied he'll spend a good portion of the life he has left in prison, there is little comfort in knowing nothing can bring back her dad.
Her hope is, now that Sheppard has been sentenced, her family will be able to move on. However, some her her dad's remains are still with Greater Sudbury Police as evidence. She's hoping the police will release his remains, so he can finally be buried.
“It's a big piece of the grieving process, so once the appeal process is over, it will all depend on what the police say, but I'm really looking forward to laying my dad to rest and as soon as possible,” she said.
In a joint submission, the court heard that Sheppard stabbed Edwards about five times, breaking ribs in the process, and beat him over the head with a baseball bat, breaking the bat in half. Sheppard followed up the murder with a “gratuitous desecration” of Edwards' body, dismembering him and putting his remains in the shed. He ignited a fire in an attempt to hide his actions and evidence, said assistant Crown attorney Kaely Whillans.
Police found a grisly scene in Edwards' home. There was blood splattered on the living room wall, bloodstains on the living room and bathroom floors, and human flesh was found in the drain in the bathtub. They found a knife, a broken baseball bat, a reciprocating saw and a handsaw.
Sheppard and Edwards had met only two weeks prior to the killing. Edwards had invited Sheppard, who was homeless at the time, into his home in Minnow Lake, where the murder took place.
Earlier this year, when Sheppard was to start a five-week trial by judge and jury — and surprised everyone by pleading to a lesser charge of second-degree murder — he had claimed it was a mercy killing, and that Edwards had promised him a winning $10-million lottery ticket to kill him because he had leukemia. However, there was no proof of the illness or the existence of a lottery ticket.
“This was a brutal, gruesome and callous act,” Whillans said, and it's mitigated by the fact Sheppard attempted to diminish his involvement. In fact, when he was arrested, he tried to blame another man, who was found not to have been involved.
In handing down his sentence, Cornell said no words can truly capture the impact this has had on Edwards' family, who are tormented daily. However, he assured them the last thing Edwards would want is for his family to be sentenced to a life of grief and anger.
“(Kenneth Edwards) was acting as a Good Samaritan at the time, and how was that act of kindness repaid? With the senseless murder of a man who did not deserve to die,” Cornell said. “By all accounts, he was a good man and will live on in the memories of his family.”
Defence lawyer Glenn Sandberg said Sheppard is a man with a “tortured and dysfunctional mind” with “multifaceted mental health and addictions issues.” He was raised in an “emotionally impoverished” environment.
A psychiatric evaluation earlier this year pointed to signs and symptoms of schizophrenia.
Sheppard was no stranger to the justice system, with a criminal record dating back to 2006 when he was arrested for breaking and entering. Three years later, he was charged with failing to appear and possession, and again in 2011. In 2016, he was convicted of theft of a vehicle and failing to attend and failing to comply with court orders. He was also arrested for forged documents.
For his part, Sheppard apologized to the family, saying he hopes they can find forgiveness in their hearts.
