Regina 'serial murderer' sentenced to life without parole for 25 years in brutal killing

A judge has served convicted killer Dillon Whitehawk the maximum sentence for second-degree murder for his role in Keesha Bitternose’s brutal death.

Whitehawk, 28, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Justice Janet McMurtry made the ruling on Tuesday at the Court of King’s Bench in Regina.

In December 2022, Whitehawk was convicted of second-degree murder in Bitternose’s death. Crown prosecutors were seeking a first-degree murder conviction.

Bitternose, 29, was murdered in a North Central neighbourhood home on Jan. 2, 2020. Police found her body inside the house on Jan. 5. She had more than 100 wounds on her body and a forensics pathologist could not pinpoint the exact injury that caused her death.

Justice McMurtry said “a night of drinking and drug use” ended in a violent death, calling it a “ferocious, impulsive attack on Keesha Bitternose.”

“I can come to no conclusion other than Mr. Whitehawk is a dangerous man and deserves to be in the category of the worst offenders,” McMurtry said.

Whitehawk and Bitternose were members of the same street gang. Despite her involvement in gangs and drugs, Bitternose’s family said that is not how she should be remembered.

“She was a mother, she was a sister, she was a daughter, she was an aunt. She was somebody, she wasn’t just anybody. She was somebody and she was important to us,” said Lynea George, Bitternose’s younger sister.

Bitternose was a mother of four and a member of Gordon’s First Nation. She had recently finished her certificate in business administration and had dreams of becoming a social worker like a number of her family members.

Now that the legal proceedings are over, the family said they can finally begin the healing process.

“Without forgiveness, we cannot heal and it’s hard to forgive something so brutal,” said Crystal George, Bitternose’s step-mom.

“How do I explain it to my children, to my grandchildren to forgive these people?”

Whitehawk did not act alone. Kelly Stonechild and Kurt Thomas previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter for their roles in Bitternose’s death. They were sentenced to seven and 18 years in prison.

Bitternose’s family is not satisfied with any of the outcomes. They wanted all three perpetrators to be convicted of first-degree murder.

“It’s not a good feeling. Three trials took its toll on our family,” Keesha’s dad, Arlen Bitternose said.

“The brutality they did to her was unreal. Maybe someday I’ll forgive them, but not anytime soon.”

'WHITEHAWK BECAME A SERIAL MURDERER'

Second-degree murder convictions come with a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Crown prosecutors argued for the maximum sentence of life in prison without eligibility for parole before 25 years. The defense asked for the minimum sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after 10 years.

“A very significant message needed to be sent on parole ineligibility and the judge agreed with that,” Crown prosecutor Adam Breker said.

“We’re not surprised and we’re pleased with that outcome.”

The judge took Whitehawk’s criminal record into consideration. He has been a consistent offender since 2013, although McMurtry said his criminal history prior to 2019 was minor.

“Something happened and Mr. Whitehawk became a serial murderer,” McMurtry said.

Bitternose is the third person Whitehawk killed in a span of two months from November 2019 to January 2020.

Last year, he was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2019 shooting deaths of Jordan Denton and Keenan Toto. In both of those murders, the judge said Whitehawk was “unprovoked” and did not know the victims. He is currently serving life sentences for those murders.

• Dillon Whitehawk sentenced to life in prison for two first-degree murder charges

Breker said it is more common to see multiple victims stem from a single incident, but Whitehawk’s case is a “very unusual and tragic situation.”

“The fact that there were three different victims in three different circumstances on three different dates that’s something that I certainly had never come across before,” Breker said.

Crown prosecutors have filed an application to appeal the judge’s December decision to acquit Whitehawk of first-degree murder. They believe they proved Bitternose’s murder was committed in association with a criminal organization.

After reading her decision, the judge addressed Whitehawk in the prisoner’s box. She told him he is facing a long sentence.

“I hope during that time you are able to reflect on these events… and when you are released that life goes well for you,” McMurtry said.