More than 20 years after Misha Pavelick’s death, his killer has been given a seven-year sentence, the maximum for a youth guilty of second-degree murder.
The now-37-year-old will spend the next four years in custody, followed by three years under supervision.
Justice Catherine Dawson told Regina’s Court of King’s Bench on Tuesday that she found the man’s moral culpability for the murder to be high and that he required a period of sustained custody.
“There are few mitigating circumstances,” Dawson told the court, saying the man has made no reparations to Pavelick’s family.
A 12-person jury found the man guilty of second-degree murder in November 2025 after hearing testimony from more than 30 witnesses and seeing evidence including photos, DNA analysis and an autopsy report.
On Monday, Justice Catherine Dawson announced she would sentence the man as a youth. It means the man’s identity remains protected by a publication ban under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The ruling also limited Dawson’s options, restricting her to the seven year sentence she imposed on Tuesday.
Pavelick was 19 years old on May 21, 2006, when he was stabbed during a graduation party at the Kinookimaw Campground near Regina Beach, about 45 kilometres northwest of Regina.
An arrest for Pavelick’s murder was not made until 2023.
The man convicted of second-degree murder in Pavelick’s death is now 37 years old, but was 17 at the time of the incident.
Now-37-year-old to be sentenced as youth for murder of Misha Pavelick
Dawson also declined to provide the man with credit for the one year, eight months and 13 days he spent in pre-sentence custody.
Crown prosecutor Adam Breker urged Dawson not to provide credit, while defence lawyer Andrew Hitchcock argued the man should receive it.
Dawson said the sentence calls for the upper limit, without reduction for time served.
Dawson did not provide direction on where the man will serve his sentence, but it has been made clear he will serve it in an adult penitentiary.
Dawson was obligated to impose a mandatory DNA order on the man. She also decided on a weapon prohibition that will last for 10 years after the custodial part of the man’s sentence.
The 37-year-old has been in custody since Oct. 3, 2024, after he failed to attend court at his preliminary hearing and then allegedly assaulted a peace officer during an arrest. Charges for both of those are still pending.
