A second man has now been sentenced in relation to the 2021 homicide of Robert Powshuk.
According to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, Ryan Crossley was sentenced on April 23 to life imprisonment without parole eligibility for 14 years. On Sept. 23, 2023, a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder.
Curtis Crossley, who pled guilty to manslaughter on Aug. 29, 2023, was previously sentenced for his involvement in the death. On Nov. 17, 2023, he was sentenced to 9.5 years without parole eligibility.
“This was an extremely graphic and disturbing incident that occurred in our downtown core,” New Westminster Police Department Deputy Chief Const. Paul Hyland said in a news release. “I want to thank the NWPD members who first responded to the scene as well as those members who assisted IHIT in bringing this file to its conclusion with a successful conviction and sentencing of these two subjects.”
Around 6:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, Powshuk, 51, entered the Waves Coffee House on Columbia Street, bleeding heavily and suffering from life-threatening injuries.
“Sadly, despite the best efforts of front-line officers attending the call, Mr. Powshuk died as a result of his injuries,” said the IHIT news release.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team took conduct of the investigation and worked closely in partnership with the NWPD and the BC Coroners Service.
As a result of an extensive video canvass, IHIT said its investigators learned Powshuk had been involved in a violent altercation with two males.
The suspects were later identified as Ryan Crossley and Curtis Crossley. They were arrested in November 2021 and charged in relation to the murder.
At the time of Powshuk’s murder, IHIT said it was an “isolated incident.” The New Westminster Police Department encouraged witnesses who may have been distressed by what they saw to contact its Victim Assistance Unit for support.
