Martin Dubitski sentenced to 9½ years for 2022 Edmonton killing

Martin Dubitski was sentenced Monday to 9½ years in prison for the December 2022 killing of Kyle Syryda, a 39-year-old father of two shot during a struggle over a vehicle in his Westwood apartment.

Dubitski admitted he and another man entered Syryda's home using trickery and force, intending to force him to sign over ownership of a Chevy Camaro. During the struggle, Syryda was shot twice. He survived long enough to shout for help, but Dubitski ignored him.

The 42-year-old originally faced a second-degree murder trial but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter after a week of evidence. Justice Bob Aloneissi settled on the sentence closer to the defence's proposal of 7–9 years, though Crown prosecutor Patrick Sinclair had argued for 14 years minus a 2½-year credit for pretrial custody.

Aloneissi cited Dubitski's Indigenous background, noting abuse he suffered growing up in B.C. and a connection to residential schools through his mother's attendance. The judge urged Correctional Service Canada to provide maximum cultural programming and consider transfer to a healing lodge. Dubitski has now been convicted in connection with a total of three homicides. In 2023, he was convicted as an accessory after the fact in the 2021 deaths of Daniel Grandbois and Deidra Aldridge, who were tortured and killed, and sentenced to three years. His co-accused in the Syryda case, Germaine Houle, is scheduled for trial later this year.

In a victim impact statement, the mother of Syryda's children described him as a loving father and spoke of finding him shot near a mural of rainbows, butterflies and handprints—an art project he'd made with his daughter that bore the word "Family."