‘Cowardly attack’: N.S. man who stomped on victim released after serving 7 years for manslaughter

A man who served seven years in jail for a killing in Nova Scotia is now free.

A Nova Scotia man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for fatally stomping his “helpless victim” in a “rather cowardly attack” walked free from his sentencing hearing on Friday, after serving seven years and four months in custody.

Justice Timothy Gabriel accepted the joint recommendation of time served for 60-year-old Gregory Maxwell Purvis in the 2018 death of Derek Miles. With time-and-a-half credit for his time in custody, Purvis has served 11 years and four days.

On Jan. 18, 2018, 30-year-old George Andrew Purvis (Gregory’s nephew) received a call from “an associate” telling him that Miles had called him a “rat” or a police informant, according to an agreed statement of facts.

George picked up his uncle and another man before driving to Miles’s apartment on Pinecrest Drive in Dartmouth, N.S., where the men engaged in a brief verbal exchange.

Stomped and kicked to death

According to the agreed facts, Miles was “knocked to or fell to the floor.”

“While Derek was on the ground, Greg repeatedly stomped and kicked Derek in the head, chest and abdomen with significant force,” the statement reads.

“The assaults on Derek caused multiple internal injuries, including eight rib fractures, a collapsed lung, and a completely ruptured spleen.”

He died from internal bleeding caused by blunt force trauma.

Miles’s building superintendent found his dead body the next day. Purvis confessed his involvement in Miles’s death to an acquaintance in the days following the attack.

Gregory Purvis was arrested and charged on March 19, 2018, and has been incarcerated since then.

Misunderstanding of motive

In Nova Scotia Supreme Court Friday, the Crown said the belief that Miles had called George “a rat” was a misunderstanding.

Speaking to reporters after the fact, Crown attorney Rob Kennedy said prosecutors reviewed social media communication and determined “it was quite clear that it was a misunderstanding, that Mr. Miles had not made those representations” in his communication with a third party.

“This was miscommunicated to the Purvises,” Kennedy said.

Murder conviction overturned on appeal

Purvis was originally tried – and convicted – on a charge of second-degree murder by a jury in 2021, but that was overturned on appeal in May 2024 due to “reversible errors of law” by the trial judge.

A retrial was ordered, but Purvis pleaded guilty to manslaughter before his second trial.

Crown prosecutors determined accepting the guilty plea would be an “appropriate resolution” after balancing it with the strength of their case.

Uncooperative Crown witnesses

“There has to be a quid pro quo when we see weaknesses in the Crown’s case,” Kennedy told reporters. “In this case, we determined that was an appropriate resolution.”

Kennedy said he believes justice was done in the case.

“It’s a situation again where we had a challenging retrial, given the lack of cooperation from our three primary witnesses,” Kennedy added.

“It could have very well been a situation where an acquittal was entered. So, I think justice was done. (Purvis) has accepted responsibility for causing Mr. Miles’s death by pleading to a very hefty charge of manslaughter.”

‘Rather cowardly attack’

Justice Gabriel said Miles was a “helpless victim” in a “rather cowardly attack” – and called the motive “somewhat petty.”

“Mr. Miles paid the price with his life that night,” said Gabriel.

Purvis had 29 prior convictions ranging from 1983 to 2016. He was only out for one year after serving a two-year federal sentence for stabbing someone in the neck with an X-acto knife.

Gabriel said Purvis has a “serious record” with convictions spanning the greater part of his life, “many for serious violence … violence that might be considered in some cases rather gratuitous.”

The sentence for manslaughter typically ranges between four and 10 years, Gabriel acknowledged, but “sometimes they go higher.”

Gabriel said serving just over 11 years, with time-and-a-half credit, is “appropriate, given the seriousness of the case.”

He spoke directly to Purvis, but said he wasn’t going to give him a lecture.

“You’re 60 years old. The choice is yours in terms of how you want to live the rest of your life. I wish you well, I hope it works out for you. Good luck.”

‘See ya later’

Quy Linh, Purvis’s defence lawyer, declined to comment after the sentencing hearing.

When asked for comment after his release, Purvis told reporters, “See ya later.”

He also declined to comment when given the opportunity by the judge to speak in court.

Co-accused

The two Purvises and the third man were initially all charged with second-degree murder.

George Andrew Purvis pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Dec. 20, 2018. On Feb. 4, 2019, he was sentenced to four years and 245 days in federal custody.

Charges were withdrawn against the other man, 26, on Jan. 15, 2019, as the Crown determined there was no realistic prospect of conviction.

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