KENTVILLE, N.S. — Two Nova Scotia men who poured gas on a homeless man and set him on fire while he was inside a bus shelter pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder.
Daniel Wayne Surette and Kyle David James Fredericks were charged in April 2014 with first-degree murder in Harley Lawrence's death.
Lawrence, 62, was found in a burned out bus shelter on Oct. 23, 2013, in Berwick, a small town about 120 kilometres northwest of Halifax.
A preliminary hearing for Surette and Fredericks began earlier this month but their defence lawyers agreed Monday to proceed with a trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Kentville, where they pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with the Crown's consent.
An agreed statement of facts says Surette and Fredericks poured gas on Lawrence and set him on fire with a lighter while he was sleeping inside the bus shelter.
"I hope the family can get closure from this," Surette said as he was led out of court and remanded into custody.
Ron Lawrence, the victim's brother, said their pleas give him little comfort.
"It shows a sense of guilt and closure on their behalf knowing that they accept responsibility," he said outside court.
"But it still doesn't change nothing."
Surette's lawyer said his client has been bothered by his actions and the Crown agreed that they weren't planned and deliberate.
"I think it was a question of getting a resolution that fit what he did," Ken Greer said. "It wasn't a first-degree murder. It was a second-degree murder and once the Crown was able to move off of first-degree murder, we were able to come to a resolution quickly."
After Lawrence's death, local residents said he was using the bus shelter for refuge as temperatures dipped.
In the days that followed, a candlelight vigil was held in his memory where the bus shelter stood.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for April 28.
