Murderer Tyler Noel must serve 16 years of life sentence before seeking parole

Tyler Noel, who helped inflict at least 200 injuries on teenager Baylee Wylie during a fatal beating in Moncton, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 16 years.

The 20-year-old Noel had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and to arson with disregard for human life.

The murder conviction brought an automatic life sentence, but Judge Stephen McNally had to decide how many years he would serve before being eligible for parole.

Wylie was bound in plastic wrap, severely beaten while tied to a chair, and stabbed numerous times before his killers set fire to the townhouse he was in.

The murder followed an argument in which Wylie threatened to go to the police to report his friends for selling drugs and owning a hidden gun.

Devin Morningstar, 19, is already serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years for murder and arson with disregard for human life.

Marissa Shephard is in custody awaiting trial in February on the same charges. 

Murder was 'brutal'

At the end of a two-day sentencing hearing, McNally reviewed a statement of facts and said he had no doubt the murder was brutal and took place over an extended period.

"It was eventually decided Mr. Wylie would have to die," the judge said, stressing how Wylie almost escaped from the house but Noel found him and the beating continued.

Almost 200 wounds were inflicted on the 18-year-old, many of them by stabbing or hitting him in the head. After the teenager's death, the triplex where the murder took place was set on fire with families living on either side.

But the judge said he also considered Noel's background and the circumstances of his life.

Noel claimed he provided largely for himself as a youngster, growing up with a drug-using mother who abused him, and a father who was incarcerated most of his life.

A group home brought structure to his life for the first time, although he didn't like the rules, said McNally.

Noel was also diagnosed with oppositional defiance disorder and attention deficity disorder, the judge said. Noel was medicated until the age of 14, when he said he could no longer afford the drugs. He previously told the court that he realized his friends were all "drug friends" and they're gone now, the Judge said.

McNally considered the three victim impact statements he received from Wylie's mother, who lost her only son, his grandfather, Ernest Wylie, and his aunt, Angela Wylie, who lost a cherished nephew.

Self-serving nature

Crown prosecutor Annie St. Jacques wanted Noel to serve at last 20 to 25 years before parole eligibility, while the defence asked for a minimum of 12 years for the murder and another three for the arson.

McNally said 25 years with no parole is for the worst of offenders, and he would have to provide a similar sentence to similar offenders with similar circumstances.

He cited other cases, where parole eligibility was available after 15 to 17 years.

While acknowledging Noel's difficult upbringing and his connection to drugs and crime, the judge said the killer's motivations were especially troubling — the fear that Wylie would tell police about Noel selling drugs and owning a gun.

I hope you guys can sincerely forgive me.- Tyler Noel, convicted murderer

While Noel's young age "should leave some hope," his planning and instigating of Wylie's murder shows his self-serving nature, he said.

"This is especially troubling and illuminating," McNally said.

He added that he was surprised none of the three people accused of the murder had tried to stop it.

After hearing the sentence, Wylie's mother could be heard crying from the hallway. She had sat in the front row of the courtroom both days of the sentencing hearing.

'Stupid and wrong'

Earlier, Noel told the court he regretted the pain he caused to Wylie's family and his own and wouldremember the day of the killing forever.

He also called the murder "stupid and wrong."

"I hope you guys can sincerely forgive me," he said, reading from a prepared statement Thursday.

Also Thursday, Angela Wylie, the aunt of the 18-year-old victim, read a statement of her own.

Her victim impact statement detailed her loss and the impact her nephew's murder had on her family and her life.

She recounted the early days after his death, how the paralyzing pain would become so overwhelming, it seemed she'd forgotten how to breathe.

"There's an ever present hole," she said.

On mobile? Follow our live coverage here.