Graham McMynn, his parents and wife say their lives will never be the same after the 25-year-old was kidnapped at gunpoint and held hostage for eight days before being rescued by police in 2006.
The four victim-impact statements were read by prosecutor Richard Cairns in B.C. Supreme Court Monday, during the first day of sentencing hearings for three men convicted in the kidnapping.
“(It) was the most stressful experience of my life,” McMynn said in his statement. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same.”
His wife Jacklin Tran, who was with McMynn when he was taken as the two drove to school, said she’s perpetually paranoid and anxious, and is plagued with violent thoughts and images.
“I feel that Greater Vancouver is not a safe place to live in at the time,” she said.
In her statement, Graham’s mother Joanne said she’s afraid to be alone.
Her husband Robert, who sat in the courtroom as his statement was read, said he feels he’s aged 20 years since the kidnapping.
“I’m now and forever looking over my shoulder and constantly concerned with the safety and whereabouts of my wife and son,” he said.
“It was a life-altering experience that no parent should ever have to endure (and) will haunt us for the rest of our lives.”
Last fall, Jose Hernandez and Anh The Nguyen were convicted of kidnapping, and Sam Van Vu was convicted of unlawful confinement.
Two other men were acquitted.
Monday, Cairns told Justice Arne Silverman the men should be sentenced to 18 years and 10 years respectively, arguing that aggravating factors in this case warrant a harsher penalty than has been given in the past.
He pointed out that McMynn was kidnapped at gunpoint, bound and held for eight days in a closet, threatened with rape, dismemberment, death and the death of his family, and was openly mocked for showing fear.
“He was treated in an unnecessarily sadistic and cruel manner by these men … for their own amusement,” Cairns said. “Consider the mental turmoil this would cause.”
Cairns said the Lower Mainland is being torn apart by gangs who have no concern for others and “revel in the misery” they cause.
“This kidnapping was simply one event in what appears to be a lifetime devoted to crime (with these men). This strikes at the heart of the community’s sense of safety (and) demands a powerful message of denunciation and deterrence.”
The men are expected to be sentenced Tuesday.
