Grandson kills native leader

TRURO, N.S. - James Douglas Gloade was high on three types of drugs when he struck his grandmother with all his might then slashed her throat with a kitchen knife after the revered native rights activist refused to give him money to buy more drugs.

The gruesome details of Nora Bernard's final moments in her Truro home on Dec. 26, 2007, were coldly relayed in a Nova Scotia courtroom Friday before Gloade, a self-described drug dealer with a long record, was sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter.

Reading from an agreed statement of facts, Crown prosecutor Nigel Allan said the frail, 72-year-old Mi'kmaq elder - whose lengthy court battles helped secure an historic $5-billion settlement for survivors of Indian residential schools - was almost decapitated by a man seized by a "killing fury."

The lawyer said Gloade had consumed $500 worth of crack cocaine, OxyContin and Valium before he went to his grandmother's home that night.

Gloade's heinous actions and his previous 37 convictions showed he was "defiant, dangerous and deadly," Allan said, noting that the young man had started taking drugs when he was 11 and claims to have been sexually assaulted as a teenager.

"It's a brutal and savage crime that, on the face of it, seems senseless," Allan told the small, packed courtroom. "He remains a real threat to anyone who defies him."


Gloade, 25, was originally charged on Dec. 31, 2007, with first-degree murder soon after he confessed to the crime.

He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter last September after Allan agreed that Gloade's drug-induced state prevented him from forming the intent to commit murder.

Accounting for time already served, there are 13 years remaining on his sentence.

Throughout the hearing, Gloade sat silently, staring at the floor. But as his mother, sister and four other relatives read their victim impact statements to the court, the young man leaned forward, put his head in his hands, then ground his knuckles into his eyes.

As the hearing drew to a close and the judge prepared to hand down his sentence, Gloade rose to address the court.

"I want to apologize to my family," he said in a monotone. "I'm ashamed for what I did. ... I let my family down. I'm sorry."

Court heard that Gloade often visited his grandmother and he was described several times as her favourite grandson.

Before the details of the killing were revealed, three of Bernard's daughters, two granddaughters and a sister described her as a loving, nurturing protector who had a great sense of humour and a knack for telling stories.

But above all, she was a strong woman who endured domestic abuse and, as the single parent, held down two jobs before embarking on a 15-year battle to win compensation for native children forced to attend residential schools.

In the early 1990s, Bernard began organizing abuse victims who attended the school in Shubenacadie, N.S. Her original lawsuit argued that tens of thousands of children had been robbed of their culture while attending the schools, run by six Christian denominations until the 1960s.

Her lawsuit was eventually merged with other legal actions, culminating in the largest class-action suit in Canada, which represented 79,000 survivors.

In court Friday, Gloade's mother, Natalie, was the last to read a statement.

"I believe that mom would have forgiven James for what he did if she lived," she said. "My whole family has been permanently divided. ... I am truly sorry for what my son, James, did to our mother."

Danielle Gloade, James Gloade's sister, described her grandmother as someone she relied on, "the one person I know I could always go to ... the one person who was cheering me on."

She said her plans to marry her fiance fell apart in the aftermath of her grandmother's death.

"When she died that night, a piece of me died too," Danielle Gloade said, adding that drugs destroyed her brother's life.

"The last few years he was so strung out on drugs, he was never around."

Bernard's sister, Linda Maloney, described how Bernard protected her while the two attended the school in Shubenacadie.

Maloney said she felt guilty because she was "unable to help her in the darkest hour of her life."

"I hope and prey that the creator ... was there to ease the pain."

Judge John MacDougall noted the "raw and vicious nature" of the killing, but he said there were mitigating factors, including Gloade's sense of remorse, his decision to confess quickly and the fact that it was his first conviction for a serious violent offence.

The maximum penalty for manslaughter is 20 years, but such a severe sentence has been rarely imposed in Canada.

"It's hard to imagine a crime closer to murder," the judge said. "He (James Gloade) was a tragedy looking for a place to happen."

Court heard that on the night she died, Bernard gave her grandson $20, but when he returned three hours later looking for more cash, she refused.

After going outside to smoke more crack, Gloade returned and hit Bernard three or four times about the head before slitting her throat twice while she lay on the floor.

The statement of facts quotes Gloade as saying his "head was buzzing" before he killed his grandmother.

Afterwards, Gloade went to his uncle's home to wash, then left to get more drugs.

He discarded a knife and his boots, which have never been found, but he left a bloody sweatshirt at his uncle's home. When he confessed, Gloade told police where to find the sweatshirt. Tests showed it had Bernard's DNA on it.

Gloade's lawyer, Stan MacDonald, said his client accepts responsibility for what happened to his grandmother.

"There was absolutely no motive for this whatsoever," he told the court, stressing that the lack of premeditation clearly ruled out a murder charge.

The Crown sought a 20-year sentence, while the defence asked for 10 years.

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