The victim, Gary Lew, was beaten and left to die in a ditch. His body was found naked and wrapped in a trash bag.
Justin Thornley and his cousin, Jacob Thornley, were each sentenced to 29 to 30 years in prison. They were convicted of manslaughter, tampering with evidence, vulnerable adult abuse, false imprisonment, and criminal conspiracy.
Christina Thornley, the victim's daughter and Justin Thornley's wife, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Braden Bongers, a family friend, was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
The killing happened after Lew swiped at one of Justin Thornley's children. The cousins and Bongers beat Lew, slammed him against a concrete floor, propped him back into his wheelchair and ignored his medical condition for three days until he died.
They then put his body in a trash bag, stripped it naked and dumped it in a ditch.
The victim's sister, Sue Lew, said she is happy that her brother got justice. She wrote a letter to the judge asking that Gary's spirit haunt the killers every day they are in prison.
Judge Kim Pankonin called the crime "horrific, deplorable, and inhumane." She said that Justin Thornley was the most culpable in the crime.
To Justin Thornley, Pankonin said, "This was a man who was your family to take care of, and instead, you took part in the senseless abuse that led to his death. You allowed it to happen and took part in it in front of your children."
Justin Thornley and Jacob Thornley both apologized in court.
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