A Montreal man who hit his brother during an argument just before he died after falling down the stairs got off with just probation for assault, much to the dismay of the deceased’s daughter.
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“You used to be my favorite uncle. But now, I will never be able to forgive you for what happened,” Kevin Kowal’s teenage daughter said Monday at the Montreal courthouse.
The teenager was speaking in the case of his uncle Craig Kowal for his crime committed in the summer of 2022 in the Pointe-Saint-Charles area of Montreal. The 40-year-old accused, who was addicted to crack at the time, had joined his brother Kevin in an apartment.
The two men then started drinking when an argument broke out.
“[L’accusé] had the upper hand, but he continued the attack on his brother by grabbing him with both arms, Mr.e Pierre-Olivier Bolduc de la Couronne. When he saw that something was wrong with his brother, he immediately let him go.”
A fatal fall occurred in August 2022 in the backyard of this building in Pointe-Saint-Charles, in western Montreal.
Photo Nora T. Lamontagne
Nebulous death
The victim then left the apartment located on the third floor of a building. And in the moments that followed, Kevin Kowal fell down the stairs. The death was confirmed by the paramedics upon their arrival.
But even though the death occurred immediately after the altercation, authorities have never been able to establish a causal link between the two events. And even an autopsy of the body has not led to anything conclusive.
“The pathologist noted several injuries, but she was unable to determine the causes of them, as well as the cause of death,” the Crown explained. “She was not even able to say whether the injuries were caused by a violent event.”
In this unique situation, Craig Kowal was never charged with homicide. He was instead charged with assault by strangulation, but when his trial was set to begin Monday, he instead pleaded guilty to a reduced charge.
Regrets
He thus admitted himself guilty of simple assault, before apologizing for his crime.
“At the time, I was a shadow of myself, I had lost everything because of drugs,” he said. “Now I’m experiencing the pain of not seeing my brother anymore… I can’t go back to drugs, for the memory of my brother.”
The mother of the accused and the victim then spoke to the court, to assure that her accused son had since “changed so much” in taking his life back into his own hands.
The deceased’s partner, however, recalled her pain at having lost her lover whose kindness was appreciated by all.
“What happened that day has shattered our family. We will miss him forever,” said Karen Hazel, in a moving tribute to Craig Cowal.
