Sasha Cayen has been sentenced to three years and seven months for manslaughter in the death of Alex Norwegian. She has two years left on the sentence and will serve it in the territory.
The 25-year-old Hay River man was badly beaten by Levi Cayen and James Thomas on the night of Boxing Day 2017, his frozen body found slumped over the steering wheel of his car two days later.
Cayen was not at the robbery, but she facilitated it by texting him to set up a drug buy. Judge Robert Gorin says she played an ‘absolutely integral role’ in the robbery.
READ MORE: HAY RIVER MANSLAUGHTER SENTENCING DELAYED
The judge says he found no evidence Sasha Cayen knew Levi Cayen and Thomas would bring a weapon to rob Norwegian, nor how the robbery would be carried out. She did, however, know Norwegian had been badly beaten and that the gate to the area his car was had been locked, as she was told so by the others when they returned.
She also knew about a call Levi Cayen made to RCMP the morning of December 27th from a pay phone outside The Rooster convenience store. The 36-second call was to report an impaired driver in the area Norwegian was later found.
“Unfortunately RCMP were not dispatched after the call was made,” Gorin says.
Sasha Cayen initially lied to police and kept her cell phone from them, Gorin adds. She later cooperated with the investigation and pled guilty to the charge of manslaughter.
The judge referenced Norwegian’s mother Wanda Steen’s victim impact statement in his judgment, saying it helped him understand how his death continues to profoundly affect her life.
“Every time it gets cold I think about my son and how he was unable to survive,” Steen said in court January 18th.
READ MORE: “WE NEED JUSTICE FOR HAY RIVER”: AUNT OF ALEX NORWEGIAN
After her time in custody is discounted, Sasha Cayen will serve two years in prison in the NWT followed by three years of probation in her home community of Hay River and West Point First Nation.
Tyler Cayen was sentenced for accessory to manslaughter January 17th, Levi Cayen and James Thomas await trial on first-degree murder charges.
READ MORE: FIRST OF FOUR SENTENCED IN RELATION TO HAY RIVER MAN’S MURDER
