'No sentence is going to be justice enough,' says wife of NL man shot while snowmobiling

Alex Hickey doesn’t accept the apology Harold Wayne Hynes has offered her family for shooting her husband.

“He knows what he did when he pulled that trigger, and there’s no words that can take that back, unfortunately,” Alex said.

Her words came just after she listened to Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Justice Trina Simms sentence Hynes to seven years in prison on Monday, Oct. 19 — a sentence that will be reduced by about 29 months as Hynes will be credited for time served since his arrest.

Hynes shot Alex’s husband, Chad Hickey, in the head as he drove his snowmobile across Gravels Pond in Port au Port on Feb. 21, 2025.

“Obviously, no sentence is going to be justice enough for what Chad and our family has gone through in the last 20 months, but I am very thankful that Justice Simms chose the maximum sentence that the Crown presented,” said Alex.

She said she had a mix of emotions but was feeling grateful that it was the maximum amount.

Having to relive the event, she added, was challenging.

“It was a very difficult time for me, being almost eight months pregnant, for our whole family, our whole community,” she said.

“And I think, just knowing Chad and his personality and what he’s been through, even aside from this, he’s been through a lot in the last five or six years, so he’s the least deserving person of this.

“So, it just makes me emotional just knowing everything that he’s been through, us as a family, but mostly him.”

Chad underwent two surgeries to remove bullet fragments from his head at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s, then spent six weeks as an outpatient at the Miller Centre, where he had to relearn how to do everything.

Today, the physical and emotional effects of the shooting continue to affect him. He has a permanent loss of function on his left side.

“He puts on a brave face,” Alex said, smiling as she spoke. “He is doing well considering. He’s able to live somewhat of a normal life when it comes to work.”

Chad was out fishing on Monday, which is why he couldn’t attend the sentencing that took place exactly one month after he and Alex were married.

Alex said fishing is Chad’s passion.

“Just because he seems to be living a normal life, it doesn’t come without its challenges,” she said.

As captain of the boat, he doesn’t have to do a whole lot of physical labour, but he has balance issues and has needed some accommodations made to his boat so he can work.

“There are quite a few things that he’s no longer able to do, and I think the hardest part for him, especially, is certain things when it comes to our son,” she said.

Chad was discharged from the Health Sciences Centre on March 24, 2025, and started at the Miller Centre about a week later, on April 1, 2025.

He went three times a week for occupational, physical and recreation therapy with a very pregnant Alex by his side.

Their son Levi was born on April 17, 2025, and Chad was back at the Miller Centre the morning after.

In his victim impact statement, Chad said he felt the shooting robbed him of something he can never get back.

“The chance to experience becoming a father the way I always imagined,” he said.

Alex said Chad was not able to pick up their son, buckle him into the car seat, or feed him a bottle.

Now that Levi is a little older and walking and more independent, it’s easier for Chad to be involved.

“Thank God he is doing much, much better, and we’re able to live our new normal. Not near what we were used to, but we’ve made the best of it,” she said.

Alex said the situation was also hard on her.

“You do what you gotta do, I guess. It’s been tough, but in sickness and health, that’s what I’m here for. I’d do it all over again if I had to. It’s been rough, though,” she added.

They had a lot of help from Chad’s mother, who stayed with them in St. John’s, and her mother also went out whenever she could.

Alex said they’ll never be able to fully put the shooting behind them but is thankful that the legal part of things is officially over.

“Hopefully, we can just continue to move on and kind of forget about it while we can for the next seven years, I guess,” she said.

She said they drive past Hynes’ house every day, and knowing he will be in prison will make it a little easier.

“Hopefully, when he’s released, he knows better than to come back,” she said.

Hynes, 68, appeared in the Corner Brook court via Zoom from the Bishop’s Falls Correctional Centre.

He was arrested on March 16, 2025, and charged with attempted murder, using a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence, careless use of a firearm, pointing a firearm, unlawfully discharging a firearm with intent, assault with a weapon and aggravated assault.

He had originally entered not guilty pleas to all the charges, but in August, changed his plea to guilty on two of the charges, discharging a firearm with intent and aggravated assault. The other charges have been withdrawn.

An agreed statement of facts presented to the court on Aug. 5 revealed that Hynes and Hickey had exchanged words a few years before the shooting when Hickey crossed the field at the end of Hynes’ property on a snowmobile without permission.

Hickey crossed Hynes’ property just before the shooting and Hynes had his head out the window yelling at him.

Simms sentenced Hynes to seven years in prison on each of the charges and ordered that they run concurrently.

Hynes has been in custody since his arrest and was credited with time served at a rate of 1.5 days for every day served.

Simms said the offences committed by Hynes demonstrate a high degree of moral blameworthiness and do not warrant a period of imprisonment at the lower end of the suggested range of sentence. The Crown had sought a total of seven years’ imprisonment, while the defence suggested four to five years.

Simms said while the moment of action taken by Hynes was short, it has a lifelong consequence for Chad and his family.

“The consequences of choosing to discharge a firearm at another human being are unpredictable, but the possibility of killing someone or causing significant injuries or lifelong harm to them is anything but remote. It’s possible, and if the shot hits, it’s likely,” said Simms in her decision.

In this case, she said, Chad and his friend were snowmobiling recreationally over the pond and accessed the area by driving over Hynes’ property.

“If Mr. Hynes had a problem with snowmobiles on his property, certainly there were other more humane and reasonable ways to address it than to shoot at the snowmobile from a window on his residence,” Simms added.

Simms said an individual has a limited right to protect their private property.

“But what Mr. Hynes did, to fire a shot at another human being who presented absolutely no threat to him and had since left his property, was completely unreasonable, irresponsible and inhumane,” she said.

“Reasonable people can have disputes and reasonable people can have verbal altercations that go unresolved. In this case, the facts indicate that Mr. Hickey had crossed Mr. Hynes’ property on his snowmobile a few years prior and that the two had exchanged words.

“On the day of the incident, though, Mr. Hynes yelled at Mr. Hickey through the window; Mr. Hickey did not linger on the property, and the facts indicate that he simply crossed it.”

Simms said individuals cannot resort to shooting each other to settle disputes.

Besides the jail sentence, Simms also imposed a lifetime firearms prohibition and a DNA order.

Hynes is also to have no contact with Chad or his family during his time in custody.

She waived the victim fine surcharge.