Man sentenced 3 years after stabbing woman’s bed

A Steinbach man who took a knife to a Ste Anne woman’s home and stabbed her bed while he was high on meth while she had a restraining order against him was sentenced to three years custody.

Christopher Nolin, 34, pleaded guilty to breaking and entering to commit the offence of disobeying a court order, two counts of uttering threats, and another count of disobeying a court order.

“The fact you went there with a knife, that you stabbed the bed and bedding… I’d describe these actions as terrifying – absolutely terrifying,” said Judge Mark Kantor while giving his sentence.

The victim was not home when Nolin broke in.

It was an alert Ste Anne Police officer who spotted Nolin leaving the victim’s home last Aug. 2.

The officer was already given a description of Nolin and his blue bicycle after the victim told police the day before of threatening messages he sent her. The victim described the bike and Nolin as homeless.

The officer on patrol saw Nolin riding the bike on the victim’s street. Circling back, the officer spotted the blue bike behind the victim’s apartment. The screen door of the rear window had been pushed in.

The officer did not have to go inside to find Nolin, who then came out. Knowing that Nolin may be armed with a knife, the officer drew his gun to arrest him.

A large knife was found in Nolin’s backpack, along with suspected magic mushrooms and meth. The officer observed Nolin to be acting like he was on meth.

The victim and her friend were told Nolin broke into the apartment. The friend’s orange Nike shoes were gone. They were found tied to Nolin’s backpack. The friend’s hat was also in Nolin’s backpack.

Afraid for her safety, the victim did not do a detailed survey of her apartment and left to stay with a friend. She did eventually return a few days later to install security cameras and on Aug. 7 found the damage the judge described as terrifying.

Her mattress and bedding were full of stab holes. She also noticed the bed was moved and her belongings had been rummaged through.

The break and enter was the culmination of a series of scary incidents for the victim and her friend.

She had received a court order that Nolin have no contact with her and Nolin received that order on June 18, 2024. By July 14, he was sending threatening messages.

Crown attorney Jennifer Neufeld read out a long list of the expletive laden and grammatically challenged text messages on social media. The following are just a few of the examples with fewer swears:

“There ain’t enough law in town to stop what you got coming.”

“Call the pigs and I’ll have you dropped daily until you drop this non-contact order.”

“You must think I’m playing. See you tonight.”

“Stop please, before I’m in for a murder.”

After Nolin was taken into custody on Aug. 2, he was put into transitional confinement. The defence suggested it was likely to keep Nolin out of the general population as he dealt with violent drug withdrawal symptoms.

Transitional confinement is what jails call custody that looks a lot like solitary confinement. The Supreme Court of Canada calls solitary confinement, defined as being in a cell for 22 hours or more per day without meaningful human contact, a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Nolin had some time with a roommate, but was mostly alone during his 274 days in jail before sentencing.

Nolin took programming while in custody at Headingly, having two hours per day out of his cell.

He had been in a long-term relationship with the victim and had no convictions since June 19, 2013. Nolin had stayed away from drugs until 2020, losing his partner, home and nearly his life. His defence attorney Bruce Bonney said Nolin was in a coma for 22 days in Steinbach hospital after overdosing.

“Basically, his life spiraled into the abyss,” Bonney told court.

Nolin was given time-and-a-half credit for his pre-sentencing custody, leaving him with 669 days to go on the sentence.

He is also prohibited from having any weapons or any contact with the two victims.