A jury has been chosen as Ronald Cyr’s faint hope hearing gets underway in Hamilton. Cyr was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of his wife, Nadia Gehl. She was fatally shot in February 2009 while walking to a bus stop near Ottawa Street and Fischer Hallman Road in Kitchener, in what a judge described as an “execution-style killing.” Cyr and two of his friends, Zdenek “Dennis” Zvolensky and Nashat Qahwash, were found guilty of first-degree murder in April 2012. All three received an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. However, Cyr has applied for a reduction in his parole eligibility under the faint hope clause. It allows offenders who have served 15 years of their sentence to get their parole eligibility reviewed by a jury. The faint hope clause was abolished by the Canadian government in 2011, but Cyr is still eligible given his offense took place before that date. Last year, a judge ruled a jury should be empaneled to hear Cyr’s request citing, among other reasons, Cyr had shown remorse and those close to him said he had worked hard to change his life and become a better person while in prison. Cyr also said he had converted to Judaism in 2011 and regularly attends Shabbat. On Monday, 12 jurors and two alternates were chosen for the hearing. It is being held at the John Sopinka courthouse in Hamilton. Proceedings are scheduled to resume on Tuesday.
