Man sentenced to 9½ years for killing father of two over a stolen Camaro

Martin Dubitski, 42, was sentenced Monday to nine-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter with a firearm in the December 7, 2022 shooting death of Kyle Syryda, 39, in a Westwood apartment.

Dubitski and another man forced their way into Syryda's home using what Justice Bob Aloneissi described as "trickery and force." Their goal was to force Syryda to sign over ownership of a Chevrolet Camaro. During the struggle, Syryda was shot twice. He survived long enough to shout for help, which Dubitski ignored. Dubitski hid the gun after the shooting.

Dubitski evaded arrest until 2024. Originally charged with second-degree murder, he was in the middle of trial in spring when, after one week of evidence, he agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. The Crown's main witnesses had credibility problems.

With credit for pretrial custody, Dubitski has approximately seven years remaining to serve. His co-accused, Germaine Houle, is scheduled for trial later this year.

Dubitski carries 39 prior convictions. The Crown prosecutor Patrick Sinclair had argued for a 14-year sentence minus 2½ years credit for pretrial custody. The defence, represented by Mark Jordan, argued for 7 to 9 years.

Justice Aloneissi considered Dubitski's "strong Indigenous background factors" and recommended maximum cultural programming and transfer to a healing lodge when appropriate — though such recommendations are non-binding. When Aloneissi told Dubitski he needed to take personal responsibility, Dubitski replied, "The system f—ing failed me." Aloneissi countered: "Well, the system doesn't fail people, people fail people."

Syryda was a father of two children. This is Dubitski's latest conviction connected to a homicide — he was previously convicted of accessory after the fact in the 2021 deaths of Daniel Grandbois and Deidra Aldridge, who were tortured and killed. For that conviction, he received three years in prison.