Article contentShe said her son had just turned 14 the week before Nader was murdered.Article content“In the aftermath, he was terrified someone would come into the clinic again and hurt me or someone else,” Peterson said. “We have both been in therapy ever since.Article content“Even now, the sound of a siren takes me right back to that morning. That wail still chills me, bringing back the shock and helplessness I felt. I remember standing between Tony – who lay dying on the floor – and the front door, wondering why I could hear the sirens but help wasn’t arriving.Article content“Time seemed frozen. I could hear Tony fighting for each of his final, agonizing breaths. It’s the most haunting sound I’ve ever heard.”Article contentShe said Tony’s death left a permanent mark on the lives of everyone who knew him.Article content“I hope, in your judgment, you consider the full weight of what has been taken from all of us – not just the life of a wonderful man, but the peace and security of those left behind,” Peterson said.Article contentArticle contentHeather Imhoff, in her impact statement, said she chased Cormier for several blocks after the attack.Article content“It was an instinctive action for me,” she said. “I did not think of any consequences. It was only afterwards that I realized how my reaction was so dangerous.”Article contentImhoff said returning to work after the incident was extremely difficult, and she retired June 30, 2022, six months later.Article content“I was reminded of Tony’s death every time I looked at his desk, every time I looked at his guitar,” she said. “When one of Tony’s patients would ask me what happened, I could feel my heart skip a few beats and I would start to sweat. Eventually, I just talked over the questions.”Article contentShe said she found herself getting angry on the job over trivial things, and going to work at Insight became “very unfulfilling.”Article content“I felt a lot of anger toward my co-workers, especially those who weren’t there the day of Tony’s death,” Imhoff wrote. “I felt I was on the outside looking in. The only people I felt any connection to were the people who were there that day.”Article contentArticle content Crown attorneys Scott Morrison and Erica Koresawa field questions form reporters Monday after Cymon Felix Cormier’s sentencing in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax for first-degree murder. Photo by Steve BruceArticle contentCrown attorney Scott Morrison told the judge that Cormier’s actions that day had a “devastating impact” on Nader’s friends and family.Article contentCormier declined an opportunity to address the court, but defence lawyer Josh Nodelman said the case was an “unbelievably tragic and difficult situation.”Article contentNodelman said the trial might have painted an inaccurate picture of his client as “someone you might expect to be extraordinarily antisocial in his day-to-day conduct, and that is not the individual that I have dealt with. He is quiet, contemplative and helpful wherever possible.Article content“He is more than the individual who committed the horrific act for which he is being sentenced today.”Article contentCormier was also found guilty on a charge of assault causing bodily harm, for hitting a customer on the side of the head with the butt of his knife after the man tried to stop the attack on Nader. The judge accepted a joint recommendation from lawyers for a 90-day concurrent sentence for that offence.
‘The most haunting sound I’ve ever heard’: Co-worker recalls Halifax stabbing victim’s final breaths
