A five-year jail sentence — one year more than the mandatory minimum — was imposed on a woman convicted of manslaughter with a firearm.
Lona Lynette Cole, 53, learned her fate in BC Supreme Court in Quesnel on April 9, almost a year after Justice Marguerite Church found her guilty of killing her intimate partner, Robert Douglas, with a single shot from a Winchester rifle at his rural home on July 6, 2020.
Cole had been charged with second-degree murder of the 58-year-old, but Church had reasonable doubt because she lacked intent and planning. She found her guilty of the lesser and included offence after determining there was a reasonable inference that Cole was either unaware the rifle was loaded or believed it was unloaded when she pulled the trigger at Douglas’s chest.
Church also banned Cole from possessing a firearm for 10 years after her jail sentence and ordered her to provide a DNA sample.
Sentencing had been scheduled for last November, but was adjourned to April for submissions and so that Cole’s lawyer could challenge the constitutionality of the mandatory minimum sentence. That application was withdrawn and sentencing proceeded.
Cole had no prior criminal record or outstanding charges. She also had no grudge with Douglas. Instead, Church said she “rather loved him and respected him. In the aftermath of Mr. Douglas’s shooting, Miss Cole sought help by calling 911, she expressed her remorse and she was cooperative with investigators.”
Church said no evidence was put before her about how Cole came to possess the rifle. The Crown suggested she took it from Douglas to prevent self-harm because he was in the midst of a mental health crisis, heavily intoxicated and expressing thoughts of suicide.
“The unlawful act itself appears to have been impulsive and without deliberation, forethought or planning,” Church said.
Church rejected the defence’s argument that “this case falls closer to near accident than near murder.” However, she agreed with the Crown that Cole’s misconception about the rifle being unloaded did not equate to a finding that she did not know the risk of pulling the trigger.
“Miss Cole’s moral blameworthiness is high, but it is attenuated by her degree of intoxication at the time of the offence and her background and circumstances,” Church said.
A Gladue letter from last August, by Andrea Smith of BC First Nations Justice Council, said Cole is Indigenous and has ancestral ties to one of the First Nations under the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, although she does not know which community she is specifically connected to.
Cole suffers from severe alcoholism and moderate substance abuse. While she has not directly addressed those disorders since attending treatment in 2023, Church said she is willing to engage in programming and support while serving her sentence.
“During her statement to the court, she expressed her sincere remorse and her acceptance of the fact that Robert Douglas’s children can never forgive her,” Church said. “It was clear from her statement that she, too, grieved the loss of Mr. Douglas.”
A victim impact statement from Douglas’s son expressed “profound and overwhelming grief” about the sudden death. James described an “emotional roller-coaster of shock, anger, sadness, rage and anxiety.”