The boy with the heart of a lion |12
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Hey, it's Nancy. Before we begin today, I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Crime Beat early and ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. A listener's note. The following episode contains coarse language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature and may not be suitable for everyone. Listener discretion is advised.

If there's one thing I've learned from decades of crime reporting, it's to never take anything for granted. I witnessed so much devastation and loss, but along with that, I see so much resilience, passion, and perseverance.

It makes me appreciate everything I have because in this life, nothing is guaranteed. It's a lesson some people know all too well. I wouldn't call him my brother because he was like everything to me. He was my mother, my father, my friend, everything. Like, you know, he was everything. I went through this kind of period where I just went numb. I didn't even know myself.

I was depressed. Like, you know, things were blocked. I stopped school. I stopped soccer. Like, things were just different. Life become a different world. I'm Nancy Hixt, a crime reporter for Global News. Today on Crime Beat, I share the incredible story of grit and determination of Chittim Thor Kharjot. This is the boy with the heart of a lion.

On January 25th, 2012, police were called to a residential community in downtown Calgary. Here's part of that 911 call. Public safety communications. Hi there, I'm just calling to report a gentleman who appears to be semi-conscious outside of an apartment building. I'm not sure if he's inebriated or injured or what's going on. He's

Okay, so he was yelling for a few minutes and now he's quiet?

The caller said the man staggered, then fell onto the snow-covered ground. When police arrived, the man was breathing, but was unconscious. He looked like he'd been beaten up.

His face was swollen and he had blood by his nose and mouth and he was suffering from hypothermia. One of the things that was a little bit confusing is that original complainant had said that the victim had been almost climbing up onto a balcony and had fallen at one point. That's Calgary Police Homicide Detective Dave Sweet, a skilled investigator who was assigned to this case.

Detective Sweet said, at first glance, it seemed like a bad fall. But when the young man could survive, he was rushed to hospital by ambulance. Meanwhile, across town, the events of that night would destroy another young man's life. And he's at the heart of today's story. His determination and courage is unparalleled.

Okay, so my name is Shatim Thor Gurjok. At 24 years old, he's wise beyond his years. For starters, he speaks five languages. I speak Nuer, Thoknaf. It's called Thoknaf. I speak Swahili.

I speak Arabic, I speak Chiluk and English. Chittim lives in Calgary now, but he's originally from Northeast Africa. So in Sudan, my father was part of the revolution movement, the SPLA, the Sudan People Liberation Movement. So he was there as a commanding officer. And yeah, we live in a place called Lair.

And with a lot of soldiers, I remember my house being like a lot of soldiers. It basically looked like I was living in a barrack.

I felt safe. Lair is a small, oil-rich town in South Sudan. I should tell you, Jateem's idea of safe and my idea of safe are completely different. The life there was good. Like, you know, I can't complain about it. It was the greatest life. My father was there. My mom was there. My friends were there. So it was good. We would go to the bushes and, you know, hang out.

And yeah, there's a lot of animals there. And it's Africa savanna. So it's mostly, it's still a wild place. You can see all the natural things outside in the world there.

Like, people there live with animals, like, you know, when I was there. And it's, yeah, people get killed several times by animals. Like, it's dangerous, but that is, people accept it the way they are. People will get eaten by crocodiles. People, like, you know, kids, when we go to the river, people die, hippos, like, they would kill people. Like, yes, but it was kind of something that was expected. People just have to learn to live.

Chittim said one of his siblings was killed by a crocodile. Another got sick and also passed away when he was really young.

In total, he has eight siblings. He's the third oldest, and he was always closest with his older brother, Gatlak. We would just play like any other child in Africa, you know. We had no worries. Again, no worries is relative. Food was scarce. Chetim said he didn't eat every day.

He remembers planes would drop food rations over his town. So the U.N. would bring sagem or maize, and yeah, we would eat that. But if there's none, we would, like, the women would go to the bushes and collect some roots or some wild grass and things like that. And they would...

They would cook them and we would eat them. Chittim remembers the excitement he felt when he heard a plane. When the Red Cross and the UN comes, they bring donations. They bring clothing, they bring toys, they bring biscuits. Oh my God, yes. So they bring this, it's called...

BP-5. So this thing is so nice. It's good biscuits. So this biscuit, they would bring them and we would eat them. So we were excited. But planes also brought trouble. Lair County, where Chateen lived, was a sprawling marshland. And again, because it's rich in oil, it's a hotbed for conflict and a target for militia attacks.

It was during one of those attacks that everything Chittim knew and held dear was torn apart. They just shoot. They start throwing down bullets and shooting everywhere. And then there was soldiers coming on the ground and they just say, "There was attack." Chittim was eight at that time. Gatlak was 13. They were separated from the rest of their family. It is just a mess. Like, you know, it's really difficult.

People just end up in places where it's that flight or fight reaction. We just start screaming and running everywhere. Gatlack was shot. He suffered bullet wounds to his hand and leg. So there we were taken by the Red Cross compound. We went there and then they flew us. They took with other wounded. They thought I was wounded too because I had a blood in my shirt, but it was just the kid, someone of the kids got shot.

and then I had the blood and then the Red Cross would put those people who are wounded and put them on a plane and then they transport them to Kenya, a place called Lokechokyo. We got there, my brother was

I should note, Chittim's hometown of Lair would go on to experience massive deaths, human displacement, and destruction of property. And by 2018, Amnesty International reported that anything in the area that was breathing was killed.

From the hospital, the brothers were taken to the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya. The UN refugee camp was established in 1992 following the arrival of the Lost Boys of Sudan. As of 2020, it had a population of nearly 200,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers. Chetim told me when he first arrived at the camp, it was a scary time.

He remembers asking his brother over and over when he would see his parents again. He just told me they will come. They'll come. One day we will see them, you know. And I see tears drop in his eyes. I couldn't understand, you know. I...

I just don't understand why he was crying. And then in that sense too, when I see him crying and then I'll start crying too. I can't, you know, formulate this. I don't know. And then I'll come again. I was like, okay, where's mom? Like, where's mom? You know, where's grandma? Like, you know, things like that. And just start asking this question. And every time I ask him, he would start crying. And it's like, you know, mom will come. Mom will come.

Back in 1996, the refugee camp in Kenya became Gatlak and Chittim's new home.

Even years later, Jatim gets emotional when he talks about his time at Kakuma. Life in the camp is something that, you know, so it's very, very tough. It's not something I want to repeat again. I would choose peace anytime just because of that refugee camp life.

Living in a shelter here is 100 times better than living in a camp. Chittim said food was scarce, and he and his brother were often targeted and robbed for their rations. On the days they managed to eat, he was so starved that he often got sick. My throat kind of hurts, like it's painful. I would be eating something and crying of pain. It's painful.

something like, you know, very difficult. Like, I would have headaches, like, a lot of... It's constant, constant, constant pain. Chateem said at the camp, basic survival and safety was never guaranteed, and he witnessed horrific crimes around him. Oh, like a lot of rapes, uh...

beating like, you know, people like there. There was grown men that ran away from war in Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, because it is a place where you get those three countries together. So those people who ran away from those kind of wars, they would come and turn themselves, like they start practicing their power on women and kids. Jatim said he wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for his brother looking out for him.

Years went by, and they tried to make the best of their situation. But they dreamed of a better life. I've been deprived of my childhood, like, you know.

Finally, a door opened. There was hope on the horizon. The brothers were selected to be resettled to Canada as refugees. Their first stop was Nairobi, where they finished their paperwork and medical tests.

When I got to Nairobi, it was my first time to see myself on the glass, like the mirror. The building was glass and I seen myself. I thought the guy was in that glass. And then I told my brother, come, come see this guy. It looked like me. And then I was like, do some moves. And then the guy would do some move again. So I was like, oh my God.

Shatim said everything about the journey to Canada was surreal. So when we got to London, it was the funniest thing because it was my first time to see a white person that is my age.

Because when I was in those places, I only see like adults, white person. So it was surprising. I was like, because there's this thing my brother always told me, when you die, you turn white. And these white people, they die a long time. Or these are our ancestors, they died. Now that's why they bring food. So that was his explanation of a white person to me. It's like, oh, when you die, you go to God, you become white.

And then I believed that. It's like, okay. So when we got into London and I see a kid that is white, then I called my brother. I was like, oh my God, these people have kids. So even me, when I was taking off, when I was in the plane, I thought I was going to heaven. I thought I was going up there. Like, you know, I didn't even know I would land on the ground again. Jatim was 14 and his brother, Gatlak, was 19 when they arrived in Calgary in 2010.

They were taken to a house that Chittim calls the "immigration house." They stayed there for 21 days. He describes his time there like heaven. The food was, you know, I tried to be careful not to finish it at once because I tried to save it for tomorrow. And I would eat something little, a bit, and... But then the following day, the food would be there again. It's like, it confuses me, you know?

I start putting some rice in my pocket and start putting some chickens like, you know, until my brother caught me. Because I thought he was going to run out tomorrow. This food is not going to be there tomorrow.

It's like, you know, because sometimes the UN will bring food, a lot of food in the camp and then tomorrow they're not there. The clothing they just donated, like it's full of oil from the chicken. And it's like, what is this? I was like, it's food for us. We eat it when we run out of this food. He's like, no, no, no, no. You don't need to do this here. I was like, I didn't trust him. And I went there, I put the chicken under the garbage. Like I lift up the garbage, I put it under there. I say, okay, if they take this somewhere,

I'd find it tomorrow. The freedom that I've seen in Canada, the freedom to eat is a culture shock. Everything was new to the brothers. When Shatim started school in Calgary, he knew three words in English. Hello, yes, and no. My brother was helping me and

was trying to teach me and I will tell you out of all the refugees in the world, South Sudanese are the most uneducated because we never had an education system like the Sudan, the northern Sudanese government, they took those education right from us. Like we don't have like, it's different from other refugees. They might have

a different education system in their languages, Arabic or different things. But in South Sudan, most of us, especially where I came from, there is no education. That is something the government doesn't want. Meanwhile, Gatlak continued his role as the parent. So he was taking English as a second language and trying to upgrade his classes and things like that. And he was working at the same time trying to provide something for us.

So yeah, he would cook for us and he would try to show me how to make food. Like, you know, it was at that point where he was trying to set me up and be independent. Chittim joined a soccer team. Growing up back in the refugee camp, he kicked around a pair of socks or some balled-up clothing. In Calgary, it was the real deal. And for the first time, he played wearing shoes.

Shatim has so many stories of the many firsts he experienced in Calgary.

Like the first time the brothers saw snowfall or felt the cold air of winter. Like, you know, when you talk and your breath, it becomes like a smoke, like that. So he come and slapped me on my face. And it's like, where's the cigarette? I was like, what cigarette? It's like you were smoking. I was like, no, when you blow your, like the air, like it turned like a smoke. Then we start doing it and then, you know,

That's one thing about Canada that Chittim hasn't gotten used to. He's always cold. There's been a few very hot summer days that I've spent with him. I'll have on a tank top and shorts or a sleeveless dress. And then there's Chittim, wearing two sweaters and still feeling a bit chilly.

He's learned to embrace winter, but he still prefers summer and heat. In early 2012, Chittim and Gatlak were about to celebrate their second anniversary in Canada. The year started off with his brother dropping a bit of a bombshell. He came one day and told me, guess what? I was like, what? It was like I talked to mom. I don't know, my tears just dropped.

Years after they left Lair as orphans, the brothers learned their mother was still alive. Chateem learned his brother had been asking members of the close-knit Sudanese community of Calgary to try and locate any surviving family members back home. So somebody got paid and then took the phone to that village my mom was and then they told her, your son is here and his family

It was difficult for her too from the side because first time I talked to her and then she cried on the phone and she's like, "Tell me what is on your right hand." I told her I have a burn because when I was five years old, they told me I got kicked by a cow, by a cow, a small cow.

I was kicked to the fire and then I burned, like all of my right hand right now is like all burned. I was like, I have a burn, like big scar on my left, on my right hand. And she's just like, oh my God, that's you, it's you. And then she started calling me with some nickname that I even forgot. And then we start crying on the phone. - Chetim and Gatlak hoped and prayed for this miracle, but never dreamed it would really happen.

Then, just one week later, life as they knew it would come to an end. January 24th, 2012 started out like any other for the two brothers. Chateem had soccer practice, then planned to have dinner at home with Gatlak. He gave me 20 bucks and then I went to soccer practice. I went to train station and met up with my coach and then I went to play soccer.

But when Chittim got home, dinner was not ready. He could hear music playing in the basement. So he figured maybe his brother was just having a nap. I was kind of tired. I was stretching my legs and things like that. And I kind of took a nap. I took a nap on the sofa.

And I woke up and the music's still there and the guy did not even come up and there's no food, there's nothing. And I just want to go and tell him, hey, it's time to go call mom. Jatim went downstairs to wake his brother up. But Gatlak wasn't there. It was just his phone playing music. So I went through his phone and I checked his last contact and...

I check who he called last and who he texted last and I start calling them. His brother's friend, Mark, answered the phone. I told the guy, hey, let me talk to my brother. And then I hear his voice in the background saying, hey, let me talk to my brother too. Mark didn't pass the phone to Gatlak. Jatim never saw his brother drink or party. But from what he could hear over the phone, it sounded like there was some of that going on.

he hung up and attempted to make his own dinner.

He remembers that particular meal was a failure. His brother was still trying to teach him to cook. And then, yeah, and then I went to bed. And then the following morning, I got a call from the hospital. Chateem rushed to the hospital and found his brother in a bed, unconscious. I just found him there lifeless. So for me, I just thought, like, they got in a car accident. Chateem tried to get his brother to talk to him, but he wouldn't wake up.

The following day, January 26th, 2012, Gatlak died in hospital. Chateem never got to say goodbye. What happened next is all a bit of a blur for Chateem. He wanted answers. He needed answers. Chateem learned about the 911 call, that a neighbor saw Gatlak stagger, then fall to the ground.

At that point, he still had his brother's phone. So Chateem began making calls. I was like, hey, so this is me. So I pretend to be Galeck. I told him what happened last night. So I was like, what happened to me last night? I end up in the hospital. I don't know what happened. He's like, oh, you got beat up last night. And then from there, I knew my brother was beat up.

Officers were already investigating and took the phone from Chateen. In this particular case, I mean, we still do have a witness who says, hey, I saw him staggering around. I saw him fall back and hit his head. But we have a witness from the actual house gathering that he had been at earlier say, hey, no, he was in a fight. He'd gotten into an altercation with a couple people. He was able to provide us a nickname of one of them.

But he didn't really know these guys well. And we need to go out and find the other people that are part of that gathering. Calgary Police Homicide Detective Dave Sweet introduced himself at the hospital. I knew that he was a brother. And I knew that he was a refugee from the South Sudan. And I knew that there was a family that was desperate to try and find answers in relation to what had happened to him.

who had actually had hurt him. Detective Sweet promised he would get answers. We live in a country where we're not obliged to speak to the police if we don't wish to and not everybody takes the opportunity to talk to us. So in this particular case we had some early challenges.

in relation to filling in all the details. It turned out Gatlak went to a party. He and a lot of the partygoers were drinking. Others were doing drugs. When investigators were able to track down witnesses, they confirmed there was a fight. Gatlak was hit several times in the head with a frying pan. Police searched the home.

And one of the things I'll always remember about this case is the frying pan being found on the porch. And if you see photographs of the frying pan, it's an orange frying pan with a black handle. And the whole entire base of the frying pan has been completely dented in. And to see it is actually shocking. You wouldn't believe that...

An autopsy confirmed the witness accounts and showed he had been hit five times or struck his head on five separate occasions.

Basically, it showed his death was not consistent with a single fall from 10 to 20 feet. Well, it was multiple blunt force trauma, which is the key to the finding that it's related to homicide. And then the other piece to that is there's a witnessed assault. But identifying who was in the fight and who killed Gatlak was the real challenge for police.

Witnesses had given police names, but they were all nicknames. And police now had to figure out who they all were. And when we're talking about nicknames, it's nicknames like, it was Lucky, and it was Tony Montana, and it was Kush. But we don't know who these people are. Like the offenders after they failed.

beat him. They removed him from the residence completely and they took him across the street and that's where he was found eventually by the police. The only thing we really had was a bent frying pan left on a porch. The challenge there then is even if we do find DNA for example on that frying pan, is attributing that person's DNA to the assault and not because they've been

On the surface, this case seemed pretty straightforward. But it really wasn't. It appeared to hit a dead end. You need to have some patience because it doesn't always come really easy. I always, through my experience in the unit, I've kind of come to believe that if we haven't identified a suspect, like a solid suspect within the first year,

three or four days of an investigation that we're likely into it for the long haul. And when the long haul is anywhere between 10 and 24 months, if ever. In the meantime, without his brother, Chateem's life was on a downward spiral. Suddenly, he was all alone, and he was only 15 years old. For a while, Chateem said he slept at transit stations and in different city parks.

Fortunately, that didn't last long. Children's Services in Alberta took him into care. At that time, Chateem also had to tell his mom, who he had just reconnected with, the horrible news. You know, for me, it was very difficult because my mom, knowing that we are alive, was a relief. And then delivering news again a week later, saying that one is dead.

And this is when Chittim's belief in the goodness of others really became obvious. His soccer family arranged to have his mother come to Calgary for Gatlak's funeral. So the soccer association, the Calgary Minor Soccer Association, huge support for me. And with NSD at the time where I was playing, Southwest United. So they have...

did an amazing job. Like, I didn't even do much. Like, they have organized everything. They have paid everything and they got the lawyers. What should have been a happy reunion was instead filled with so much pain. In fact, it was so traumatic that Chateem doesn't recall that special moment when he saw his mother. I was blurred. Like, my head can't even, like, I don't, I didn't even remember having interaction with her.

I went through this kind of period where I just went numb. I didn't even know myself. Jatim's mother couldn't stay. She was only able to come for the funeral, then return to Sudan to care for his siblings. Jatim said darkness consumed him. I was depressed. You know, things were blocked. I stopped school. I stopped soccer. Things were just different.

Meanwhile, Children's Services worked with Chateem and set him up to live independently. Like, I don't even know how to repay them back. Like, these giants in my life, like the UN, Red Cross, immigration, husband, family, like, what they have done for me and, you know, is...

Audrey Martin was a frontline worker with Aspen Family Services, a nonprofit agency that's now known as Trellis. They work with children, youth and families, and their programs focus on improving access to resources and community support to deal with challenges like Chitim's. Martin became his support worker.

I think he was in our program for about two or three years. He was kind of a longer-term youth that worked with us. And him, not because he struggled so much, but because it was just kind of like this relationship where he was doing well, but he also kind of still needed that bit of a push. And so it kind of, you know,

sharpen those skills, I guess, like cooking and figuring out how to, you know, pay bills and move out on his own and kind of walk alongside, also recognizing that he had had a lot of loss in his life and how we could support him in that way.

Martin said she saw Shatim grow and thrive in spite of the adversity he faced. I'd say Shatim's situation is absolutely unique. I think Shatim as a person, as a human, is absolutely unique and incredibly resilient. Him and I have had many conversations through the years and we're still in touch.

Well, even now, obviously, as we're talking, I think his situation and him as a human is very unique and he's very resilient in how he's overcome so much adversity in his life. And it's still, I remember when I first met Shateen, when we started to get to know each other, he's like, I'm going to work for United Nations one day. Like, that's my goal. Because we sit down and say, like, what are your goals? What do you want to do?

He's like, I want to go to law school. I want to work for the United Nations. And I am one day going to go back to Sudan and turn things around. Like that was his goal from the get-go. What was very clear to those who worked with Chateem is how easily his life could have gone in a different direction. So some youth in the program are not...

in a place where they're coping as well with their trauma histories and perhaps, you know, they take a different path and begin coping with drugs and alcohol or become involved in gang involvement and take different paths.

So we work with those youth where they're at and try to, you know, get them on a different path. But Shatim, it almost seems like he kind of, he already had his mind made up of what his path was going to be. Shatim vowed to make his brother proud. He's an incredible human being and we had that really human connection. And I think that's kind of the magic that is Shatim, that he shows up in his charismatic, really caring, enthusiastic self

with kind of everybody he meets. And that's really special. - Chittim not only learned English, but he excelled in school. He got a soccer scholarship to Mount Royal in Calgary and became the first member of his family to attend university.

He has two jobs. Both are working with at-risk youth. So, the team is a support worker. And so, the team does one-to-one support for vulnerable youth, helping them engage in programming, helping them connect back into their community, helping them connect back with their natural support, so friends and family, life skill development, peer support, so being able to just be able to navigate certain situations of whether or not someone might be in crisis. So, it's kind of that one-to-one support.

and really just helping them kind of grow and work through their own journey and connect back into the community. That's Tyler Wilson, one

one of Chateen's managers at a social services agency that supports homeless youth. There's people like Chateen on this earth that are just born to do this kind of work and there's certain skills that just can't be taught and that's what we see with Chateen. And it's just his positivity, his experience living through all of his personal stuff has really been super helpful and he really just has this way of relating with the youth that it's just a quite incredible thing to watch.

While juggling school and work, Chittim also volunteers his time to help others. He mentors youth in the Sudanese community through youth leadership and empowerment events and a youth soccer team. I use coaching as a mentoring tool. So in different spaces, so whether you want support, yes, I will try to help you. You want to chat, trying to tell you what I have achieved, what I'm going through.

Meanwhile, back in 2012, Gatlock's case appeared to go cold.

In the months following his death, Chateem kept in contact with Detective Dave Sweet. His brother was somebody that was always vested and interested in the investigation, would check in every once in a while. Of course, the family had to wait a long time for there to be some sort of resolution. And so Chateem would call me every once in a while and just sort of check in. And during those times he'd check in, he would certainly nudge me sometimes.

to keep going and to, you know, remind me that there wasn't a resolution yet. Put a little bit of fire under my pants. Investigators never forgot about Chateem or finding the people responsible for his brother's death. But the case just took some time to solve. Police were finally able to identify the partygoers behind the nicknames. And people's guards go down.

So sometimes time is, as an investigator, can be an advantage to us. They saw it as, oh my gosh, I can't believe the guy that we beat up died. I think that's how they probably saw it. I'm sure at some point in time, they become just very comfortable with the knowledge that they just, they got away with it, I guess. It's often when things seemingly go quiet in an investigation, the techniques are being used behind the scenes.

Police had been building a case against the suspects. And when they had gathered enough evidence, they got a court order to intercept phone conversations. So it's about two years later, yeah, when we, you know, our investigation kind of ramps up to a point where, you know, we've now listened over wiretaps. We've helped corroborate some of the early statements of our witnesses through admissions made by police.

the offenders on the, on the wire. Admissions in relation to, you know, being at the party and, you know, being involved. And then this sort of, I think one of the, the, the young person, it tried to come up with a story on how, um,

his DNA ended up on the frying pan itself and that he had been cooking eggs earlier and he was like looking for somebody to basically be a witness to that for him. And just like little bits, you know, it's not, these are not, um, confessions, you know, you know, they're going to take you from point A to point Z, uh, with every detail filled in, but they're just little, they're little affirmations, little confirmations that yes, um, the people that the witnesses have identified are the people that are involved and

and what each person's role actually is. And then, an arrest. A 19-year-old is facing second-degree murder charges in connection with a homicide case dating back now more than two years. 20-year-old Galak Thor Mitgerjock was attacked at a party January 25th of 2012. He died in hospital the next day from blunt force trauma. The suspect is now in custody. Nancy Hicks is at police headquarters with the latest. Nancy.

Gord, police tell us they arrested the 19-year-old at his home earlier today. We can't release his name because he was 17 at the time of the alleged offense and he is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Police say that there will be one more person charged, but they've been unable to track that suspect down yet. Investigators tell us...

that these two men were suspects early on in the investigation, but it took some time to put the case together and actually lay the charges. These individuals were known to each other prior to the party, and this was a dispute between several individuals that escalated into a deadly confrontation.

The next day, a second man was arrested in the case. Anthony Brothers was also charged with second-degree murder. We looked at the victim's medical records, the autopsy findings, the statements made by our first responding police officers, statements made by the partygoers that were there that night, and then, of course, the intercepted private communications. In this particular investigation, once they were arrested, they were interviewed,

And it was a result of a brother's interview that he goes on to make even further admissions and confessions to the police around his role. Neither accused stood trial. Instead, both pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. I should add, the youth in this case, whose identity was protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was sentenced as an adult. So I can now name him. His name is Mark Pius.

According to an agreed statement of facts, on January 24, 2012, Gatlak went to a small house party with some friends, including Mark Pius, the friend Jatim called from his brother's phone. Court heard Gatlak was drinking. A lot of others, including Pius, were doing drugs like cocaine.

Chittim told me his brother wasn't known to drink, so he wasn't surprised to learn consuming alcohol hit him hard. He became extremely intoxicated. That led to him being asked to leave the party.

As he stumbled, Pius, along with the second accused, Anthony Brothers, began to physically remove Gatlak from the party. At first, they put their arms under his and lifted him up, but eventually they dragged him. Court heard Gatlak began to flail around. He kicked his legs and swung his arms. One of those swings hit Pius.

Pius admitted that's when he took a frying pan and hit him in the head over and over. The two accused then took Gatlak outside and continued their assault. They both hit and kicked Gatlak while he was on the ground. They left him outside in the cold and went back to the party.

Not long after, police responded to the neighbor's 911 call and found Getlack unconscious. Emotions ran high in a Calgary courtroom today as a Calgary man finally got some closure in his brother's murder. He was viciously beaten to death at a house party in 2012. Now one of the men responsible is going to prison. Our Nancy Hickst was in court and Nancy, the judge decided to sentence the accused as an adult.

Linda, the man was only 17 when the murder happened but he's 20 now and we are allowed to name him as he's been sentenced as an adult. Mark Pius is now sentenced to four years in jail for the manslaughter death of Galak Metkerjok. Pius is the second person to be sentenced for Metkerjok's death. He has previously served his time in a youth facility. He will now be moved to a federal institution. Metkerjok,

died after being attacked at a house party in January of 2012. His death orphaned his brother Chittim. They came to Canada as refugees. Well, it was really hard to stand seeing someone that took everything that I had away from my life. So it was difficult, but I had to

put myself together and be strong enough. My brother, like, he was everything to me. He's a role model friend and brother. Like I say, like, without him, I wouldn't be alive today.

Today during sentencing Pius gave an apology. He said, "I can't imagine the pain I've caused. I haven't just ruined my life but in other families also. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Chittim says he accepts the apology. It doesn't lessen his pain but he respects that Pius apologized. And now after credit for time served, Pius has just over two and a half years left in his sentence.

Court also heard Mark Pius is diagnosed as having schizophrenia. Initially, he pleaded not guilty in the case, but a defense of not criminally responsible was not accepted. According to the Parole Board of Canada, Pius got into some trouble during his time in prison.

He was accused of assaulting another inmate. Those charges were later withdrawn. On another occasion, he was found in possession of brew, jail-made alcohol, and he was placed in segregation. He also faced institutional charges for verbally resisting orders from officers and using profanities against officers.

Documents state he was found to "cheek" his medications, then later refused medications and psychiatric treatment. The Correctional Service of Canada assessed Pius as a high risk to reoffend violently and generally.

He was released from prison on statutory release in 2016, but that release was later revoked. He was released again with conditions to follow until his sentence expired in April of 2018. Anthony Brothers was sentenced to four years in prison. He completed that sentence in June of 2017.

With justice finally served, Chittim could now grieve the loss of his brother. But even that was stressful. I'm really glad we're able to bring you this story now. It's about a young man who has seen tragedy for pretty much all of his life and how he's turning to Calgarians for support tonight. He and his brother escaped death in Sudan. They lived in a refugee camp and managed to find their way here to Calgary.

He lost his brother here though to murder. As Nancy Hicks reports, he now just wants a proper burial site to honour him. Chateem visits Galak's gravesite almost every day. I just pray, talk, say stuff that we had in the past.

trying to regret things that I didn't tell him when he was alive. What's missing is a headstone, a true symbol of the man Galak was. It's so hard right now with financially, everything. I can't afford to put the headstone on him, on someone who I love really much. I spend most of the time coming to visit him. There's no place to come see him.

It just really, really bothered me. A GoFundMe account was set up to help Jatim raise money to purchase a headstone for his brother's grave. Calgarians rallied around him, and I was there the day he finally chose a memorial to honor Gatlak. So was Detective Dave Sweet. I waited for so long, long, long time to just get this done.

The time we got it done today is just so amazing. It just shows again the support of Calgarians and the generosity when people are really down on their luck and have gone through such a tragedy that the community is still willing to embrace and come forward, step up. I don't even know any of these people. I never met them. There's just so kindness. I never knew the society was this caring.

Every day, Chateem works to honor his brother's memory. This year, he will graduate from university with a degree in sociology. But he told me none of his successes feel meaningful because he's all alone. I wish my mother was there, you know, or my brother was there. It's still like, like all of this thing that I do, all the things I make in life, it just, oh, like they always come with something.

a different thought. Like, they never, like, deep, deep inside me, I never feel happy about them. Even getting a job, going to school. Like, I personally don't feel happy about it because I feel like people who deserve to be there are not there. Even, you know, graduation from school, like, I thought my brother would be there. Chittim talks to his mother once a week. She's currently in Kenya in the Kakuma refugee camp.

Every time he talks to her, he learns something new. Interestingly, when Gatlak and Chateam first came to Canada, they thought their last name was Metkerjok. However, they later learned that was a nickname for their father. Their last name is actually Thorkerjok. Chateam recently legally changed his name to Match.

Even now, life for Chetim is a challenge. After he pays his rent and bills, he sends everything he has left to support his mother, siblings, and several other family friends. So currently I'm supporting 12 people. And I'm trying my best to support him right now, even though with a lot of responsibility on my plate. On the day we did the interview for this episode,

He reminded me how much he sacrifices daily to help his family. Sometimes I skip days like I don't want to eat so that I can save that money and give it away. His dream is to be able to have the rest of his family come to Canada. I was so lost when I lost my brother. So I tried to apply for my mom to come here and finally, you know, and then I just got rejected.

I tried two times and it's tough. Like, you know, I would, I would try, they would reject it and I try and reject it. And it just become something very difficult. I can't take it no more. It's a tough battle. And it's just really, especially with this pandemic where I just go home and

But he's not giving up and hopes one day a miracle will happen, that someone will help him and his mother and siblings will be granted asylum and be able to come to Canada.

He wants to take her to Gatlack's gravesite so she can finally see the headstone that bears his brother's photo and some of his favorite things, a soccer ball, a Bible, and his favorite number, six. There are also words engraved, brother, father, son, gone and will never be forgotten. Gatlack's legacy lives on through his son.

He became a father after he died. Gatlak taught Chittim to have the heart of a lion. And now he's passing the lessons on to his nephew, looking out for him like his brother did. I want to thank Chittim for sharing his story and thank you for listening.

Crime Beat is written and produced by me, Nancy Hixt, with producer Dila Velasquez. Audio editing and sound design is by Rob Johnston. Special thanks to photographer-editor Danny Lantella for his work on this episode. And thanks to Chris Bassett, the acting VP of National and Network News for Global News.

I would love to have you tell a friend about this podcast, and you can help me share these important stories by rating and reviewing Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. You can find me on Twitter at Nancy Hixt, on Facebook at Nancy Hixt Crime Beat, and I'd love to have you join me for added content on Instagram at nancy.hixt. That's N-A-N-C-Y dot H-I-X-T.

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