Close X
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
ADVT 
National

Marco Muzzo, Drunk Driver Who Killed Four People Apologizes, Says He's Tortured By Grief

The Canadian Press, 24 Feb, 2016 11:12 AM
    NEWMARKET, Ont. — A drunk driver who killed three children and their grandfather in a horrific accident apologized to the victims' family Wednesday, although the kids' parents left the courtroom as he took the stand.
     
    "I am tortured by the grief and the pain that I have caused the entire family," Marco Muzzo said in a brief but emotional statement to the court.
     
    "I will forever be haunted by the reality of what I have done. I am truly sorry."
     
    Muzzo, 29, spoke facing the court and occasionally looked up to face the crowd.
     
    He pleaded guilty earlier this month to four counts of impaired driving causing death and two of impaired driving causing bodily harm.
     
    Nine-year-old Daniel Neville-Lake, his five-year-old brother Harrison, their two-year-old sister Milly, and the children's 65-year-old grandfather, Gary Neville, died after the van they were in was hit by an SUV in Vaughan, Ont.
     
     
    Jennifer and Edward Neville-Lake, whose family was decimated in the crash, left the room as Muzzo took the stand and did not return until he was back in the prisoner's box.
     
    In her victim impact statement, Jennifer Neville-Lake looked directly at Muzzo on Tuesday as she said his actions have shattered her world.
     
    "I don't have anyone left to call me mom ... You killed all my babies," she said in a long and emotional speech before a packed courtroom. "I miss my kids, I miss my dad, I want my old life back," she said.
     
    "I would not wish this horror I am living on anyone but you," she said. "You deserve to know exactly what it feels like to have every single child you created meet someone like you."
     
    Muzzo's lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said his client is "grief-stricken."
     
     
    The crash was the result of a "terrible decision made by a very good person," he said.
     
    The Crown, meanwhile, compared Muzzo's actions to walking down the street with a loaded gun.
     
    "It is time to send a message," Crown lawyer Paul Tait said in calling for a sentence of 10 to 12 years.
     
    A psychiatric report filed with the court Wednesday said Muzzo is showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and mild depression.
     
    Dr. Graham Glancy, who conducted the evaluation, said Muzzo shows "considerable remorse" and appears "distressed and tearful" at times, particularly when discussing the crash.
     
    The psychiatrist said Muzzo told him he was stunned by the breathalyzer results, which court has heard were between two and three times the legal limit.
     
    He said Muzzo recalled having three to four drinks on a plane before taking the wheel, but did not feel drunk.
     
    In the psychiatric report, Muzzo expressed the desire to atone for his actions and reach out to the family whose lives he irreparably changed.
     
     
    "I would apologize to them, ask for forgiveness, donate my time, write a blog, educate others, devote whatever I could, and do whatever I could," he told Dr. Glancy.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Surrey RCMP Seek More Victims After 2 Men Charged With Sexual Interference Involving Teen Girls

    Surrey RCMP Seek More Victims After 2 Men Charged With Sexual Interference Involving Teen Girls
    Surrey RCMP is requesting the public’s assistance to identify other potential witnesses and/or victims in order to advance an ongoing sexual interference investigation.

    Surrey RCMP Seek More Victims After 2 Men Charged With Sexual Interference Involving Teen Girls

    B.C. Teacher Disciplined For Repeatedly Calling Muslim Student 'Taliban'

    B.C. Teacher Disciplined For Repeatedly Calling Muslim Student 'Taliban'
    A ruling from the British Columbia Commissioner for Teacher Regulation says Sooke Grade 11 math teacher Matthew Pell repeatedly singled out the student in the fall of 2014.

    B.C. Teacher Disciplined For Repeatedly Calling Muslim Student 'Taliban'

    Toddler Attacked By Dog In Calgary Hospital With Bites To The Face, Body

    Toddler Attacked By Dog In Calgary Hospital With Bites To The Face, Body
    Rocky View County fire crews responded to a dog attack on a child near the town of Langdon on Thursday morning.

    Toddler Attacked By Dog In Calgary Hospital With Bites To The Face, Body

    Charges Laid Against Teen After Video Threats Made Against Student At Winnipeg School

    A number of charges have now been laid against a young man who was arrested after a video allegedly containing threats against students at a Winnipeg high school was posted to YouTube.

    Charges Laid Against Teen After Video Threats Made Against Student At Winnipeg School

    1 Person, Several Cows, Killed In Crash North Of Parry Sound, Ont.; 5 Injured

    1 Person, Several Cows, Killed In Crash North Of Parry Sound, Ont.; 5 Injured
    Small vehicles are being routed through highway 529.

    1 Person, Several Cows, Killed In Crash North Of Parry Sound, Ont.; 5 Injured

    Alberta Health Officials Say B.C. Person With Measles Visited Multiple Places In Calgary

    Alberta Health Officials Say B.C. Person With Measles Visited Multiple Places In Calgary
    The person was at Calgary International Airport between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 18 and took WestJet flight WS287 to Vancouver, which departed at 11:35 a.m

    Alberta Health Officials Say B.C. Person With Measles Visited Multiple Places In Calgary