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An Ontario man who reached a top speed of 173 km/h moments before a deadly crash in Clearview Township has been sentenced to another three years in prison.
More than 100 people packed a Barrie, Ont., courtroom Monday to witness the sentencing hearing for Dan Richie, 36, who was convicted in June of dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm in the rural road September 2023 crash.
Sitting in the prisoner’s box, Richie heard 20 victim impact statements from Katie Marshall’s loved ones. Richie listened to the pain and destruction he has caused since the day he drove 173 km/h before running a stop sign and crashing his car, with his partner and their five children inside, into another vehicle.
Marshall and her two dogs, Sage and Ry, were killed, and her husband Brody was airlifted to Sunnybrook in Toronto in life-threatening condition.
“I want you to understand that this was not an accident or another one of your speeding infractions,” said Katie’s mother Sherry Hubbert. “Your choice to drive that speed and your failure to stop, everything that followed (has) destroyed our lives.”
Marshall’s loved ones told Richie of the irreparable physical and psychological harm he has caused them, since Marshall was killed while “in the prime of her life.”
Marshall worked as a security guard at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie and was an equestrian who loved horses, the sport, and its barrel racing community. Her loved ones wore lavender and black-coloured shirts with the initials K.M. in court to honour Marshall.
Justice Jocelyn Speyer sentenced Richie to four-and-a-half years in custody less time credited in pre-sentence custody, which amounted to close to 600 days in jail. The Barrie judge ruled Richie’s “deliberate actions and choices” caused the crash; making it clear the deadly crash was no accident.
Marshall’s husband, Brody, faced Richie and demanded he look at him while he delivered his statement in court.
“I still have nightmares replaying that day, waking up screaming from the accident you caused. There was no opportunity to say goodbye, no opportunity to tell Katie I loved her,” he said.
“Because of you, I lost my wife, my dogs, my whole world on the side of that road,” said Brody, who sustained severe internal physical injuries and psychological trauma from the crash.
“Katie was light and goodness in the world, and Daniel, you are none of those things. You are the worst of the world, and you have to live with that,” added Brody, who told the court he was forced to leave his wife’s body behind following the crash, unable to get to her because of the damage done to his car.
Two of Richie’s children were also injured in the crash; one child suffered a fractured skull.
Marshall’s father, Rob Hubbert, told the court both he and his wife have suffered serious health issues since the crash, including two heart attacks. They both had to stop working because of their health problems.
“We will never get over the loss of our daughter, sister, wife, aunt, best friend,” said her father. “The best we can hope for is to finally put this behind us, move forward and remember the beautiful person she was and dream of what she might have become.”
The crash happened at the intersection of the 3/4 sideroad and 9th concession in Clearview while the Marshalls were on their way to feed their horses at Katie’s parents’ farm in New Lowell.
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Richie, the court heard, had 11 prior convictions for speeding. Justice Speyer called his driving record “appalling.” Initially out on bail, Richie was arrested again last summer and pleaded guilty in a Chatham courtroom for violating the terms of his release.
Richie had been mistakenly released from jail in Chatham, Ont., without his GPS ankle monitor and taken back into custody in September, where he’s been since a failed bail review. He was found without his mother, who was surety on bail, after pledging $75,000 to secure his release.
Richie had claimed Indigenous heritage prior to his last court appearance. An investigation found Richie had no known, formal Indigenous cultural ties and attempts to have a healing circle were abandoned by Richie and his defence lawyer Franklin Lyons, who had asked the court to sentence Richie to two years in custody, along with an eight-year driving ban.
“You killed our beautiful daughter,” said Shelley Marshall. “We are left with a life sentence that you will not serve time for.”
Richie was given opportunity to address the court and expressed remorse to the families affected.
“I have no one to blame but myself,” Richie explained. He called his driving “irresponsible,” while taking responsibility for his “regrettable decisions.”
Upon his release from prison, Richie will be banned from driving for 15 years.
