A Toronto man has been sentenced to a 10-year prison term in connection with the 2007 stabbing death of a young man on a subway car.
A jury had decided on June 11 that it couldn't convict John Paul Vallon of second-degree murder. Instead, it settled on manslaughter.
Justice Eugene Ewaschuk of Ontario Superior Court described the crime as an unprovoked attack on Nick Brown, a stranger to the accused who had been "peacefully riding a TTC subway train minding his own business," the Toronto Star reported.
The attack occurred in the early morning hours of April 13, 2007.
Vallon exited the subway at Victoria Park. Brown, a 21-year-old plumbing apprentice, was found bleeding at Kennedy station, the final eastward stop on the subway line.
A post-mortem exam found Brown had died of multiple stab wounds, but it was a wound to his left thigh that did the most damage. His skull had been fractured in the attack, along with his breastbone.
Brown had lived in Scarborough. His family described him as a caring young man who liked to help others.
Pileggi's family was incensed by the sentence. The Crown had asked for 14 years, but the defence argued for a seven-year sentence to be adjusted for pre-trial custody.
