'He's finally going to go to jail'

Man who killed two women in 1983 can't apply for parole until he's 83

- BETSY POWELL WENDY GILLIS 

Family and friends of the victims hug outside court after Joseph George Sutherland, below, was sentenced to life in prison for the 1983 murders of Erin Gilmour and Susan Tice on Friday.

A man who escaped justice for almost 40 years for the rape and murders of two Toronto women, Susan Tice and Erin Gilmour, has been sentenced to life behind bars.

Joseph George Sutherland, 62, must serve 21 years in prison before he can first apply for parole, Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell ruled in a Toronto court on Friday.

Aggravating factors in the murders, including the vulnerability of Tice and Gilmour, “the violation of their homes and their bodies, and the brutal nature of the killings call for a period of parole ineligibility that will clearly denounce the conduct and deter others,” Forestell said, reading her sentencing reasons.

“Both murders fall close to firstdegree murder. Even one of these murders would have, in my view, justified a period of parole ineligibility in the highest range. Two such murders demand an exemplary sentence. A parole ineligibility period of less than 20 years would not be sufficient.”

Sutherland has no guarantee of parole upon his first eligibility date, nor ever.

Speaking outside court, Sean McCowan, Gilmour’s younger brother, said he was satisfied with the outcome. The life sentence means McCowan can “sit back and remember Erin and know that someone’s in jail for it.”

In August 1983, Sutherland, then 21, broke into Tice’s home, sexually assaulted her and killed her by stabbing her 13 times with a knife. Tice was a 45-year-old mother of four children, a social worker and counsellor, she had just bought her home and was preparing for her children to move in.