Garland gets life in prison, no chance of parole for 75 years for triple-murder
Posted Feb 17, 2017 5:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There were cries and tears on Thursday at Douglas Garland’s murder trial, but Friday there was applause.
The 57-year-old was given consecutive parole ineligibilities for the deaths of Alvin and Kathy Liknes and their five-year-old grandson Nathan O’Brien two and a half years ago, meaning no chance of parole for 75 years.
Judge David Gates ruled against serving concurrent sentences, which would’ve allowed Garland to serve each sentence at the same time.
It was the end of a five-week ordeal for the O’Brien and Liknes families, which included five victim impact statements, including Nathan’s parents Rod and Jennifer.
“I still fight the darkness that threatens to take me down,” Jennifer said. “It is not possible to go back to my old life because it has been distorted and torn apart. I have had to seek out a new way of life, a completely new way of living.”
She said she feels blessed when Nathan’s friends come over or she attends one of their hockey games, but also sadness.
“I will never watch my own son grow or score the winning goal that wins the hockey game.”
She and Rod have learned to give each other so much grace, she said, somehow moving through the despair.
“It has been the grace and compassion from people that has sustained us,” she said, adding she takes comfort in the fact Garland will be behind bars for the rest of her life.
Rod O’Brien the true impact is indescribable.
“It is impossible to formulate any words in any language to describe the pain and loss of what Nathan had to endure or the devastation that is left behind,” he said, adding his children ask him questions that have no answers.
“Why did Nathan have to go to heaven? Who hurt Nathan? Why did Nathan die? Why can’t we see Nathan?” he said. “Nathan more than anything wanted to be a dad; he talked about it often and was excited for his life. All of that is now taken from Nathan.”
He talked of his last day with the five-year-old, how he told him he loved him, was proud of him and that he never forget it.
“Those who choose evil will get an eternity of will forever,” O’Brien said as he directed his final words to Garland. “A life sentence on Earth is nothing compared to what waits for you.”
Alvin’s brother Allen was brief on the stand, saying he thanked everyone involved in the investigation.
“I just thank God his family turned him in,” he said.
Crown prosecutor Vicki Faulkner read two more statements, on behalf of Liknes children Jeff and Nancy.
GATES’ RULING
Judge David Gates asked Garland if he had anything to say to the court.
He did not.
“You have done a terrible thing,” Gates said. “The circumstances defy description.”
He said Garland robbed the Liknes’ of their golden years and O’Brien of his future.
“You have also shaken this community,” he said, adding Garland the city and Garland’s own family are also deeply impacted.
“Mr. Garland has expressed no remorse or regret,” Gates said, noting the sentence is not just about Garland, but the entire community and to sustain public safety and confidence.
As Garland walked away to spend the rest of his life in jail, the families applauded the decision as this part of their ordeal finally came to a close.
