Canadian Justice Perversion

Associate Chief Judge Murray Thompson recently participated in a horrendous perversion of justice.

The case is a virtual indictment of a soft Canadian Justice System that’s becoming more flaccid with the passage of time.

Enter Johnnie Kilbourne (23), an Indigenous offender from Oxford House, Manitoba who was convicted of twelve (12) exceedingly serious offences that included:

  • Sexual Assault Causing Bodily Harm
  • Aggravated Assault
  • Forcible Confinement
  • Choking to Overcome Resistance

The charges originated from a brutal June 2011 attack where Kilbourne invaded the sanctity of a woman’s home and confronted her and a male friend while armed with a knife.  During the incident he forced the victims into a bedroom where he tied up the man, burned him with a cigarette and then proceeded to violently rape the woman vaginally, anally & orally.


When he was done raping the woman, Kilbourne unceremoniously shanked the male victim in the stomach and left him to bleed out.

He then abducted the woman and left in the male victim’s truck which he proceeded to get stuck in the muskeg.  After trying to set the vehicle on fire, Kilbourne dragged the woman into the bush and violently sexually assaulted her again.

(The horrific assault would require multiple surgeries to repair the victim’s internal injuries.)


The Criminal Code of Canada assigns punishment for offenders convicted of criminal offences.  Each offence carries a maximum punishment according to the law.  In this case, I will only deal with the four (4) convictions reported in the media.

  • Sexual Assault Causing Bodily Harm –Fourteen (14) years
  • Aggravated Assault – Fourteen (14) years
  • Forcible Confinement – Ten (10) years
  • Choking to Overcome Resistance – Imprisonment for Life

(Judges have the ability to order sentences to be served consecutively, that is, one term must be served before the other term commences.)


During sentencing Judge Thompson stated, “Despite the high number of disturbing and shockingly violent cases I’ve dealt with as a judge, this case ranks as the worst.”


The twenty-eight (28) year old victim told the Court she lives in constant fear and has lost her independence, her job and her house.  “Ever since that day I feel like a zombie wandering the earth,” she said.  “He scarred my mind, my body and my life.”

It’s evident Kilbourne’s crime essentially destroyed the woman’s life.

A year later and Kilbourne stood before the Court an unrepentant man who had shown no signs of remorse or regret for his horrific crimes.  He never so much as apologized to his victims and refused to participate in sex offender counseling.


Judge Thompson indicated he considered a just and fit sentence for the crimes to be twenty-one (21) years incarceration.  His acknowledgement of a “fit” sentence was immediately undermined by the soft Canadian Justice principles he applied that not only destroyed any possible sense of justice for the victims of these heinous crimes, but also ensured that a violent unrepentant criminal will taste freedom long before he has any right to.

The first reduction to the twenty-one (21) year sentence came in the form of the “totality principle.”  An arbitrary principle applied in cases where multiple convictions can result in a disproportionately long period of incarceration.  The reduction; four (4) years, making the total sentence seventeen (17) years incarceration.

As Winnipeg Sun reporter Tom Brodbeck eloquently put it, “I don’t recall the “totality” of the horror, anguish and pain the victims suffered in this case being reduced in any way.”


Unfortunately, Judge Thompson wasn’t done applying soft Canadian Justice discounts.

Enter the Gladue effect, a race based Court generated philosophical approach to sentencing designed to give discounts to Indigenous offenders based on the real or perceived harmful effects of the Canadian Indigenous experience and what, if any, dysfunction they may have experienced in their childhood.

Race based in that Section 15 (1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights spells out principles of equality for all Canadian citizens.

Equality Rights*


*Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Gladue fails to formally recognize principles of equality for African, Ukrainian, Polish, Bosnian, Chinese, Japanese and every other race that makes up the melting pot we call Canada.  For some unexplained reason, the effects of slavery, genocide, civil war, forced internment camps do not merit formal recognition in Canadian Justice.

In any event, the application of the Gladue principles merited a further two (2) year discount on Kilbourne’s sentence.  That reduction left Mr Kilbourne with a fifteen (15) year sentence, but soft Canadian Justice wasn’t quite done yet.

Enter pre-trial sentencing credit, an abuse of common sense sentencing principles the Federal Tories tried to address when they introduced the Truth in Sentencing Act to eliminate the ability of the Courts to provide offenders double and sometimes triple credit for every day spent in pretrial custody.  The new law provides Judges the discretion to apply 1.5 days credit “if circumstances justify it.”

In this case Judge Thompson came to the conclusion that “circumstances justified it” and applied the 1.5 credit further reducing Kilbourne’s sentence by three (3) years to a total sentence of twelve (12) years with a condition to serve half the sentence prior to parole eligibility.

After all soft Canadian Justice principles were applied; Kilbourne will have to serve an additional six (6) years in prison before he is given back his liberty.  That means he will be out of prison in time to celebrate his thirtieth birthday.


Meanwhile his victim will continue to suffer with severe emotional trauma for the rest of her natural life.

This case exposes the frailties of life in Canadian society and the degradation of a great Canadian principle, that of accountability.

Judge Thompson’s sentence demonstrates a complete lack of professional and moral accountability on his part for rendering a sentence that was not consistent with his stated belief that Kilbourne’s crime merited a prison term of twenty-one (21) years.  Yet he opted to apply soft Canadian Justice principles and settled for a sentence of only eight (8) years.

Kilbourne remains unrepentant and refused to demonstrate any form of intellectual accountability for his crime, which in my way of thinking, is an aggravating factor that should have justified severe punishment.

The Gladue principles ensure Indigenous offenders like Kilbourne avoid accountability by offering them sentencing discounts that mitigate punishment for outrageously violent crimes.

A practice that further sews the seeds of societal racism and division.

The problem here is not the Criminal Code of Canada.

The problem is lack of accountability.

The Criminal Code of Canada provided Judge Thompson all the tools he needed to ascribe an appropriate sentence to Johnnie Kilbourne, he simply chose not too, and for that he deserves our condemnation.

Johnnie Kilbourne deserved a life sentence for his violent, heinous crimes.  A sentence that would provide a sense of justice to his victims, a sentence that would serve to protect the public, a sentence that would hold a rabid offender accountable for his crimes and a sentence that would serve to modify criminal behavior under the threat of expeditious incarceration.

Canadian society will be better served when our political leaders find a way to inject “accountability” back into our justice system.  Accountability for Judges and offenders, two key elements that are currently missing from the equation.

Until that time, soft Canadian justice will continue to allow violent offenders like Johnnie Kilbourne to destroy the lives of the innocents among us.

Like Mr. Brodbeck says, “It’s a bloody disgrace.”


WINNIPEG SUN DEAN PRITCHARD – “Judge Calls Oxford House Man “Worst” Rapist He’s Sentenced.”

WINNIPEG SUN TOM BRODBECK – “Worst Rape Ever Netted Ridiculously Soft Sentence.”

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  1. James G Jewell

    If only it was that easy….

    Regardless, we do have some great Judges sitting on the bench. I’ve written about some of them…that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t express our outrage when the “not so good” ones make terrible decisions…..

    Just one of the benefits of living in a free society….

    Thanks for weighing in, appreciate your comments….

  2. Jonathan Lemieux

    I have to disagree with Rick. We have some of the best judges in the world sitting in our Courts. If you guys think you can do a better job, go to law school then practice law for ten years and be appointed to the Bench!

  3. James G Jewell

    There can be no question our Courts have become primary offender driven.

    It’s time to adjust the scales to bring them a little bit closer to center.

    Thanks for commenting.

  4. James G Jewell

    Accountability is missing from Canadian Justice and people just don’t seem to take crime all that personally unless it happens to them…..

    I share your frustration and appreciate your comments.

  5. James G Jewell

    An idea shared by many…thanks for commenting.

  6. James G Jewell

    You have underlined a big part of the problem…..Politics…

    Our Political system is more about partisan agendas rather than public safety…

    Government is dysfunctional and adversarial….the interests of the people are often sacrificed by misguided self interest.

    Something has to change..

  7. James G Jewell

    Thats part of the problem we face in our society.

    We see so many aberrations of Justice that we start to accept them and become desensitized to the insanity.

    Appreciate your comments and your service.

  8. James G Jewell

    I have my own views about capitol punishment but would disagree on the issue of inhumane executions. Lethal injection is far more humane then the fate experienced by the average homicide victim.

    I do agree the death penalty may not be a deterrent for potential killers but at least it eliminates repeat offenders, a current reality in Canadian Justice as several killers have appeared before the courts for their second and even third unrelated killings.

    I prefer to err on the side of pubic safety when it comes to the release of dangerous killers back into our society.

    If “life” actually meant “life” maybe fewer people would support the death penalty.

    Thanks for your comments.

  9. Feel the need to say, perhaps shared by many, but definitely not by all. The taking of a life is never justified in my view, let alone inhumanly. Thing is, most people who think this is a good idea feel it would sent an example for others to consider before they commit a crime. Penalties are not something people like Kilbourne before committing a crime, any crime. It’s folly to think they do/might.

  10. It is just another example of the quality of the judges in our country. They sympathize with child molesters and rapists, the two lowest forms of human beings. Calls into question the morals of these judges.

  11. perfect example of kangaroo court, with a jackass overseeing the bench… wonder what the verdict would have been had it been the jackass family that went thru such horror, then and to live with the horror the rest of her days… totally pissed that we live in such a society, where the offender has more rights than the victim.

  12. Robert J. Bailey

    A perfect illustration of why we need castle law and stand your ground law in Canada, and that the U.S. founding fathers were right to include the 2nd amendment.

  13. I so feel for this victim who through no fault of her own, will now be living with a horror for the rest of her life. And I know there will be all sorts of things written about the legal system in Canada (its not a justice system, justice has nothing to do with what we experience in Canadian Courts, it just a legal system), but the question remains, why dont people vote in governments that are willing to do something to change the course of action within our Courts and legal system. We have far too many politicians that cow tow to supposed Aboriginal injustices (while the older generation has suffered, the younger generation has had many opportunities that they have wasted and continue to remain victims). We have immigrants coming in from war torn countries , do we now make special rules from them? As opposed to just writing into complain, people need to speak through their votes. Politicians need to be told LOUDLY that we as Canadians will not settle for victims rights being completely trampled upon and overlooked !

  14. I have been a police office. Deputy sheriff and now a corrections officer this does not surprise me in any way what so ever..when I go work each day and find out the sentence of some of these offenders I shake my head in embarrassment of our criminal justice system

  15. James G Jewell

    I know your sentiments are shared with a great many people…..thanks for commenting.

  16. This is why we need the death penalty in Canada as a federal-wide law. This guy deserves to be killed inhumanely, and this judge should be required to resign his position permanently. Honestly this makes me ashamed to be Canadian when we let people like this basically ruin the next 60 years of some woman’s life and he loses 8 years…

  17. James G Jewell

    The problem with this case is the Judge was following the law as it is currently written. Something has to change to stop the insanity! I appreciate your comments.

  18. There should be an inquiry to the judge’s sentencing method, followed by a re-trial or somehow an appeal to change his sentence.

  19. James G Jewell

    To be sure….

  20. Absolutely outrageous!

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