The murder of a Sooke woman two years ago is back in public view after her killer and son, Michael McCormick, 38, appeared for his sentencing hearing in B.C. Supreme Court in Victoria on Monday.
The Crown is seeking a 12- to 15-year sentence in prison as “appropriate for aggravated manslaughter” after McCormick plead guilty two years ago in the murder of his mother, Pamella Dyer.
Dyer, 64, was found dead and lying in a pool of blood in her home on July 20, 2014 by a close friend who went to check up on her after she wasn’t heard from for two days.
Dyer’s cause of death was blunt force injury to the chest, which was a result of multiple factors, such as fractures on all her lower ribs, internal bleeding, as well as repeated blows to her body such as her head, legs and arms, a coroner’s report revealed.
Dyer had no previous medical conditions and there were no signs of intoxication.
According to the crown prosecutor, the relationship between Dyer and her son was “wrought with conflict and disrespect” and she was trying to distance herself more and more from him before her death.
The Crown also said McCormick was addicted to crystal methamphetamine around the time of Dyer’s death, and that his intoxication “was escalating before the killing.”
Records show, McCormick also has a history of psychological issues, including narcissistic behaviour, anti-personality disorder and delusional episodes caused by drug use.
Worried about her son’s aggression due to the meth addiction, Dyer gave a statement to Sooke RCMP on July 10, saying that she did not feel safe with him in her home. In her audio statement to police, Dyer said McCormick kept stealing her truck, and “he escalated to be very verbally-abusive.”
“When he’s in that state of mind, he’s strong as an ox and has no mind,” Dyer said in the recording.
At the time of his arrest on July 20, 2014, McCormick was allegedly seen tossing something in the bush, which was later recovered to be a set of keys that included the keys to Dyer’s home and her car, which was missing at the time police arrived at Dyer’s house to investigate.
Details of where McCormick was in the two days before Dyer was found dead in her home remain unclear, though at the time of his arrest, he told investigators he had spent the two previous days on Ella Beach and in the bush behind Western Foods in Sooke.
“Is she gone? Are you sure it’s her?” a teary McCormick asked the investigators in the video. At the time of the interrogation, the Crown prosecutor said McCormick had several scratches on his arms and legs, which he described was a cause of him pouring acid on himself.
The sentencing hearing continues through Thursday at the Victoria courthouse.