WARNING: This story contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.
A Burnaby man found guilty of manslaughter in the stabbing of a 17-year-old boy on a Surrey bus on April 11, 2023, apologized to the boy’s family and friends before the court on Tuesday.
“I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart,” Kaiden Mintenko said in court on Feb 17. “Taking the son, brother and friend was never my intention that night, and I am devastated for the loss of a young man in his future. I would do anything in the world to undo what I did that night.”
Mintenko spoke about the shame and guilt he feels. He said he has learned to manage his anger and impulsive reactions in his three years in pretrial custody, and he wishes he could switch places with the victim.
The court previously heard Mintenko was prepared to plead guilty to manslaughter before the trial began on Dec. 2, 2024, but the Crown rejected this to pursue a second-degree murder conviction and the case proceeded to trial.
GUILTY OF THE LESSER OFFENCE
Justice Terry Schultes delivered his manslaughter verdict against Mintenko on March 20, 2025. He was tasked with deciding if Mintenko is guilty of second-degree murder or the lesser included crime of manslaughter following a 10-day trial in December 2024.
A manslaughter sentence can range from a suspended sentence to life in prison.
The victim was stabbed once in the right upper chest while riding on a Route 503 bus in the 9900-block of King George Boulevard and died in Royal Columbian Hospital that night.
Schultes imposed publication bans on information that would identify the teen and two Crown witnesses. He also ordered a publication ban on the identity of a fourth person.
Sentencing was originally scheduled for August 2025 but has been delayed numerous times as the judge wanted a pre-sentence and psychological assessment report.
On Jan. 2, 2026, the Crown and defence presented submissions and case law, with Crown prosecutor Rod Flannigan arguing for a prison term of 10 to 12 years, minus pretrial custody, and defence lawyer Mark Swartz arguing for six-and-a-half years.
On Jan. 9, Dr. Coupland, a court-ordered expert, was cross-examined by the Crown and defence regarding her pre-sentence and psychological assessment report. Dr. Morgan presented a report assessing his risk management.
The Crown noted that Dr. Coupland met with Mintenko three times, for five-and-a-half hours each time, while Dr. Morgan met with him only once for an hour.
MORAL CULPABILITY
Flannigan and Swartz argued Tuesday (Feb. 17) about several things in the reports – one being whether or not his conduct disorder, fetal alcohol syndrome (FASD) or ADHD contributed to the stabbing.
Flannigan stated that although Mintenko had “some impairments,” his moral culpability is high.
The court heard during the trial that Mintenko was fascinated with knives at an early age. A Crown witness testified during the trial that a girl who was with Mintenko on the bus knew the victim and would “try to egg him on” whenever they crossed paths.
Before getting on the bus, the girl told Mintenko the victim was a pedophile, which the court later proved not to be true.
Dr. Morgan noted in their report that Mintenko was “very upset” when he was told this information and began “ruminating about this.”
“In my clinical opinion, had Mr. Mintenko not been told that the victim was a pedophile, it is highly unlikely that the index offence would have occurred,” noted the report.
The Crown believed the evidence showed his moral culpability was high.
“There was a plan to assault the victim and a plan to punch him, although the action of pulling out the knife was impulsive, and he didn’t have the intent to kill. He certainly had the intent to warn. He meant to warn him, and he meant to stab him as a warning,” Flannigan said.
He could have responded differently, the Crown argued, and left the bus through the back door instead of moving toward the victim. He also has a “history of weapon use coupled with fascination for weapons,” Flannigan said.
This was a purposeful action, he said, which was also “shown in his actions,” after he ran off the bus, discarding clothes and the knife and withholding information.
The court heard during the trial that Mintenko admitted to police that he killed the teen but had also sobbed to the officers: “He wasn’t supposed to die, I didn’t want it at all, I didn’t want to kill him, I didn’t want to, I wasn’t trying to.”
When a police officer then asked Mintenko what he thought was going to happen then, Mintenko replied, “I wasn’t thinking.”
“I never wanted to hurt nobody,” he told police.
“I’m f—-ing caught, man,” Mintenko said. “There’s no doubt about that.”
Dr. Coupland’s conclusion that Mintenko is at high risk of reoffending has been supported by the evidence, the report said.
The defence asked the court to consider the impact that FASD and ADHD had on Mintenko’s executive functioning.
“What’s come out of the evidence is it’s challenging for him to develop internal systems of control, that is, learning skills and strategies and inhibitory responses that don’t involve violence, because of the FASD and ADHD combined,” Swartz said.
“I’m quite prepared to accept the possibility that Mr. Mintenko’s decision to use the knife was made impulsively, a situation that some of his cognitive deficits contributed to,” Swartz said. “That’s precisely the test. It doesn’t have to cause the commission offence, it’s only that it’s contributed in some way to the commission of the offence.”
“Should the court accept the FASD and accept the various deficits that he has, then I say that … it reduces his overall level of moral blameworthiness and some of the considerations with respect to the purpose and principles of sentencing,” Swartz said.
Swartz noted that Mintenko had voluntarily participated in various rehabilitation programs while in custody and has been a “positive inmate” with “no violence, threats or aggressive behaviour for 34 months.”
Mintenko stated that he had grown a lot over the past three years, while he has been in custody.
“I learned to control my anger and impulsive actions. Instead of reacting impulsively, I stop and think things through,” he said. “I wish I had done that that night, I have a much greater appreciation for the blessings I had and have in my life. I seek comfort through praying to the Lord, and I often ask God for forgiveness.”
He is scheduled to appear in court next Thursday (Feb. 26) to set a sentencing date. As of Feb. 18, Mintenko has been in custody for 1,040 days, which equals four years, three months, and four days, with the standard 1.5-to- one day time-served ratio.