Josh Julien’s parents, brothers, and nieces say they have been in constant mourning for 19 years.
Josh, 20, was killed in 2003 by Delroy McFarlane, who has applied to court to be able to apply for parole before 25 years have passed.
“Nineteen years was a nightmare. The way that Josh was killed, it plays in my mind every day,” said Josh’s father, Eric, as he addressed a jury during the family’s victim impact statements in Newmarket court on Tuesday.
“If Mr. McFarlane was remorseful, he would want to do his time.”
Julien was shot 14 times — including five times in the face — by McFarlane and a second man, Mark Rogers, an American from Buffalo, who say they had drug business disputes with Julien, their marijuana supplier.
They left him to die in a field in Stouffville the night of May 30, 2003.
McFarlane was convicted of first-degree murder in 2008.
He is now serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
He has served 19 years.
McFarlane’s hearing before a judge and jury in Newmarket is a rare ‘faint-hope’ application to try to gain the right to speed up his parole eligibility.
Julien’s parents reject the killer’s repeated assertions on the stand to the jury this week that he is a changed man who now takes responsibility and accountability for the murder.
“Every day is torturous. I am constantly in emotional pain and agony,” said Josh’s mother Jacqueline Julien, who was crying as she made an impassioned plea to the court.
She begged the judge and the jury to dismiss McFarlane’s legal application.
“The unspeakable pain never goes away. The senseless and deliberate killing of Josh left me heartbroken. The physical and emotional stress is overwhelming,” she told jurors.
Julien’s brother, Troy, delivered his impact statement remotely from Granada.
“Help us to continue to heal. Allow us to be seen,” he appealed to the jury. “Validate Josh’s intrinsic right to exist and grow. Acknowledge the cruelty and callousness of Josh’s killer by upholding this 25-year minimum sentence.”
“We ask: What does society possibly gain from this early release? This man has not shown one iota of remorse,” he said.
Aisha Julien — Josh’s niece — told the jury she remembered the horror of that day in 2003 when the family first learned about her uncle’s murder.
And how it has scarred her.
“Being forced to come here and read this is unbelievably selfish on the part of Mr. McFarlane,” she said.
The case continues in Newmarket court.
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