3rd person sentenced for interfering with Edmonton man's remains; cause of death remains unknown

As a third person was sentenced for interfering with the remains of Donald Blizzard, the cause of the Edmonton man's death remains unknown.

Justin Michael March was handed a 30-month prison term for interference on Tuesday, after admitting that he hid Blizzard's body to prevent police from knowing the man had died while with March and his friends. 

After the sentence was imposed, Crown prosecutors withdrew charges March had also faced for manslaughter, unlawful confinement and attempted obstruction of justice.

March, 36, is the third of four people charged in connection with Blizzard's July 2021 death and disappearance to be sentenced — but court heard that the condition of Blizzard's remains when they were finally recovered has made it impossible to know how he died. 

In a victim impact statement, Blizzard's mother Janet Hazen told court Tuesday that losing her eldest son meant losing the sunshine in her life.

"He was a generous soul, and at times larger than life itself," she said.

She described the agony of not knowing where he'd gone after his disappearance — and recounted the two months she and Blizzard's other family members and friends spent searching Edmonton's streets, calling hospitals and shelters trying to find him.

"There was no 911 call made and now he's gone from this world forever," she said.  

According to an agreed statement of facts, Blizzard went to a suite in a Jasper Avenue building that March was renting on July 27, 2021. At the time, March was on parole for previous drug convictions and one of his release conditions was to refrain from being in Edmonton.

As the hours passed, two other men — Kevin Turner and Andrew Walker — arrived at the suite to help March try to quiet Blizzard.

At one point March struck Blizzard in the face, and later March and Turner tied him up with tape. 

According to the agreed statement of facts, "someone" stuffed a sock in Blizzard's mouth, and he ended up dying a short time later, despite some lifesaving efforts by the three men. 

Blizzard's body remained in the suite until July 30, 2021, when the three men were joined by a fourth, Mark Elder, who helped them back Blizzard's body into a bag. March paid Elder's wife to come clean up the suite, and joined in the cleaning himself.

Later that day, Walker and March drove the body out to Lac Ste. Anne County and dumped it into a ditch, where a farmer discovered it on Sept. 13, 2021.