What began as a night of drinking between two friends spiralled into a violent, alcohol-fuelled altercation, a Calgary prosecutor told court Friday while seeking an eight-year prison sentence for a man who admitted to killing his friend with a pair of kitchen scissors.
Lawyers made submissions Friday before Court of King’s Bench Justice Christopher Simard in relation to the sentencing of Hans Jimenez Varela, 30, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to the reduced charge of manslaughter in the death of 28-year-old Jose Gutierrez Polanco.
Jimenez Varela had originally been charged with second-degree murder, but in April pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter at the start of what had been scheduled as a two-week murder trial.
The body of Gutierrez Polanco was discovered in a residence in the 300 block of Grier Avenue N.E. on Feb. 14, 2024, more than two weeks after he was killed.
Dressed in a blue prison jumpsuit, Jimenez Varela sat in the prisoner’s box with his head bowed through much of Friday’s proceedings.
According to an agreed statement of facts read aloud in court by prosecutor Terry Mazerolle, the two men had known each other for about a year after meeting while working for the same Calgary construction company.
On the evening of Jan. 27, 2024, they spent time together at Gutierrez Polanco’s apartment before walking to a nearby liquor store. Shortly after midnight, they returned to the victim’s apartment, where they continued drinking.
As the night progressed, Jimenez Varela became severely intoxicated, consuming a substantial amount of alcohol.
The agreed statement of facts says an argument erupted between the two men in the living room of the apartment that escalated into a physical fight. Jimenez Varela told investigators Gutierrez Polanco became aggressive, making comments about his age and background before pushing and striking him.
According to the agreed facts, Jimenez Varela claims he repeatedly asked Gutierrez Polanco to stop before pulling him to the floor. He told police everything happened very quickly, and that during the altercation he believed he was fighting someone else.
“I thought it was another person, but I did not know it was Miguel,” he told police, according to the agreed facts.
An autopsy later determined Gutierrez Polanco suffered 12 stab wounds, including five to the neck and six to the torso. Four wounds penetrated his lungs, while another pierced his liver and diaphragm.
Mazerolle argued the nature of the violence should be considered as relevant to Jimenez Varela’s moral culpability in relation to the offense.
“The act here is repeated stabbings into vulnerable parts of the human body,” he told the court. “The deceased was also on the floor when the scissors were used, and that matters. The person on the floor was more vulnerable, less able to move, less able to defend, less able to escape.”
The Crown said the number and severity of the wounds reflected sustained violence. He also argued the accused’s failure to seek medical assistance for Gutierrez Polanco after the attack is an aggravating factor.
“He died alone and remained alone because the only other person present that knew of his situation left him there,” Mazerolle said.
Jimenez Varela left the apartment around 5:30 a.m. According to the agreed facts, he appeared “grossly uncoordinated, disoriented, and inebriated” as he exited the building, based on CCTV evidence.
Gutierrez Polanco’s body was not discovered until Feb. 14, 2024 — 17 days after the killing — in an advanced state of decomposition inside the apartment. Police found blood spatter on the walls and ceiling of the residence, according to the agreed facts.
During Friday’s hearing, the court also heard a victim impact statement from Gutierrez Polanco’s sister, who described her brother as her closest companion.
“He was my only brother and always my company,” she wrote. “We were just 11 months apart, so we grew up together.”
She recalled the anguish of transporting his ashes back to Mexico, describing the heartbreak of carrying a box containing her brother’s remains through airport security after the siblings had originally travelled to Canada together.
“It is super difficult just to know that you have the ashes in your hands instead of having his company,” she wrote.
The Crown is seeking an eight-year prison sentence, less credit for Jimenez Varela’s pre-trial custody. Defence lawyer Jason Wuttunee was set to make submissions Friday afternoon.
Justice Simard is expected to hand down his decision on sentencing at a later date.