A man guilty of manslaughter and arson in the death of a 67-year-old Napanee man last year will be sentenced August 8.
Sixty-seven-year-old Walter Lasher was pronounced dead in hospital after he was pulled from his burning apartment on John Street on August 3, 2024.
Police initially charged Andrew Thompson of Picton, 32 years old at the time of his arrest, with first-degree murder, however, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and arson in May.
Victim impact statements were read in a Napanee court on Thursday.
Family members said while Lasher had a disability, he was a part of Napanee’s downtown landscape.
His sister Freda Hart said strangers still approach her to say how much they miss him.
Defence lawyer Peter Zaduk is asking for a sentence between five and eight years and that Thompson be credited with two years of time served because of how long he’s been in lockdown.
The Crown is seeking a sentence of 10 years with Crown Attorney Monica Heine saying surveillance video showed Thompson making repeated attempts to set fires in the transitional housing building over a long period of time.
