Caretaker given two life sentences for killing Winnipeg couple at their Jamaican home in 2018
The man who pleaded guilty to the murders of a Canadian couple found dead in their Jamaican home has been handed two life sentences in the killings.
On Thursday in Jamaica, Fabian Skervin was handed two terms of life in prison to be served concurrently with no chance of parole for 32 years and four months, his lead attorney Anthony Williams told CTV News.
In July, Skervin had pleaded guilty to the murders of 81-year-old Melbourne Flake and 70-year-old Etta Flake. The married couple had immigrated to Canada from Jamaica and had lived in Winnipeg for 53 years. They were found dead inside their St. Thomas vacation home in January 2018.
"It's important that people know that sometimes justice does get served, and in this case, Skervin is spending what's probably going to be the rest of his life in prison," Debbie Lee Olfert, the daughter of the couple, told CTV News in an interview from St. Thomas.
Olfert said she flew down to Jamaica from her home in Vancouver for the sentencing, which she said brought some form of closure to her.
"I've waited over three years for some modicum of justice," she said. "I'm just grateful that somebody is being held responsible."
Williams told CTV News that Skervin—a 29-year-old farmer—had worked as the caretaker for Melbourne and Etta.
CTV News has previously reported the couple had been killed during a home burglary. Their bodies were found by construction workers.
Williams said the court gave Skervin a discount on his sentence because he pleaded guilty to the murders.
"He asked me to convey to the court that he was sorry, he has expressed remorse," Williams said.
"The fact of the matter is, it does not detract or take away the very fact that two lives have been lost."
On Friday, the Jamaica court also dismissed the charges against Nekia Thompson – a woman co-accused with Skervin in the murders, Thompson's lawyer Hensley Williams told CTV News.
Williams said Thompson had previously pleaded not guilty to two counts and an indictment for murder. He said the charges were dismissed Friday, as the court found no admissible evidence to proceed with the case against Thompson.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.