The families of two victims killed in British Columbia's Kootenay region in 2022 are living in ongoing pain and fear, a court heard this week as the man responsible faced sentencing. Mitchell McIntyre could be imprisoned for up to 13 years without parole for the second-degree murder of Julia Howe and a concurrent eight-year term for the manslaughter of David Creamer, according to a joint submission by the Crown and defence.
A Sentencing Hearing and Shared Anguish
The sentencing hearing for Mitchell McIntyre began this week at the B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops. The proceeding, scheduled for three days, heard emotional victim impact statements from nine family members of the deceased. The court must now decide whether to accept the jointly recommended sentence.
In a powerful statement, Julia Howe's partner, Frank Reiner, described how the murder has irrevocably changed his life. "I lock all my doors and windows now," he told the court. "I sleep with an axe under my bed and a bat in my guest bedroom because I know the cops won't help me." He expressed that his ordeal will not end until McIntyre is "gone, is dead," fearing the killer may return to harm his family.
Deaths Initially Ruled Accidental
The case involves two shootings on February 6, 2022, that were bizarrely misclassified for days. Julia Howe was shot in the head in Creston by McIntyre, a family friend who rented a suite from Reiner. Following a police investigation, a B.C. coroner concluded she had died from falling and hitting her head.
Later that same day, David Creamer was killed at his home in Kimberley. The same coroner, without visiting the scene, also ruled his death an accident by blunt force trauma from a fall. The truth only emerged days later when a distraught McIntyre told hospital staff he had killed someone named "Creamly" in Kimberley.
This confession prompted a re-examination, leading to the discovery of a small bullet hole in Howe's head. McIntyre was subsequently charged. However, because Creamer's body had already been cremated, destroying potential evidence, initial charges were not immediately laid for his death.
Guilty Pleas and Lasting Trauma
During a trial in late 2025, Mitchell McIntyre pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Julia Howe's death and later to manslaughter with a firearm for killing David Creamer.
The impact on the victims' loved ones extends beyond grief. Reiner was interviewed by police as a potential suspect and lived under a cloud of suspicion in his community until the 2023 preliminary hearing. His daughter, Erin Flanagan, who had welcomed McIntyre into her home, said in her statement, "I will never understand why you did or why you waited so long to plead guilty."
Howe's brother, John Gilmour, remembered his "very beautiful and loving sister," shot in her own bathroom. He called McIntyre "pathetic," noting the victim impact statement format limited his ability to express his full contempt.
The judge's decision on whether to accept the 13-year joint submission will determine the next chapter in a case marked by tragic loss, investigative error, and a community's search for closure.
