‘You’re a coward:’ grieving family confronts Dustin Zinter in Supreme Court sentencing

“This is a life sentence for me,” Zinter said.

The reply seemed to spark something in Vizvari, who quickly got up from his seat at the front of the court house and strode to Zinter in the prisoners box.

There was no violence however. Vizvari just stared Zinter down for several seconds before court sheriffs escorted him back to his seat.

Zinter didn’t show much emotion on his face when confronted by Vizvari. He did however start crying during the next victim impact statement, read by Plato’s close friend Adrienne Breen.

“This loss is real and forever,” Breen told the court. “We will never see her again. What a brutal, cruel thing to have to tell our children. They were five and seven at the time. We had to tell them Heidi was killed in a preventable accident and we will never see her again.”

Breen said Plato was “genuine, friendly and real” with warm, shining eyes when she smiled.

Speaking directly to Zinter, Breen said she has serious worries about his actions behind the wheel of a car in the future.

“We lost Heidi, but our community could have lost anyone on that road that night,” she told him. “That doesn’t have to be the way it was, that doesn’t have to be the way it is.”

Zinter looked away and down at his notes for much of Breen’s statement, but tears were seen running down his face as she walked back to her seat.

Before the statements were read, Crown prosecutor Nick Barber explained to the Honourable Justice Robin Baird how Zinter has repeatedly failed to show remorse and change his life even after previous convictions.

“He is manipulative and self-deceiving,” Barber said. “Even by collateral contacts – his family and alleged friends – they all seem to be in agreement he’s of a deceiving character.”

The pre-sentence report written for the courts based on interviews with his family painted an unflattering picture of Zinter.

“He’ll tear you apart,” Zinter’s own brother said about him. “He has a terrible record of putting his own needs in front of others and will destroy your life. He’s irresponsible and has a history of breaching trust. Don’t expect anything to come out of his mouth to be true. He does a lot of lying to keep you in the dark. He also deceives himself, he starts to believe his own lies.”

Looking at Zinter’s extensive criminal and driving history, Barber said “The circumstances of this offence were almost bound to occur.”

He was previously convicted for driving with undue care in Salmon Arm back in 2010. Barber said Zinter was pulled over for driving aggressively fast on a highway and showed signs of being intoxicated.

His criminal record is also littered with numerous other offences, including mischief and assault, as well as several 24-hour driving prohibitions.

When he was arrested in November 2016 on a warrant for the crash which killed Heidi Plato, Zinter was aspected of drunk driving and once again failed to provide a breath sample.

“Mr. Zinter has had every opportunity over the last 20-plus years to get himself into a position where he’s able to drive in a safe manner and he did not do so,” Barber said.

The Crown is seeking a six-year sentence for the three convictions of dangerous driving causing death, fleeing the scene of an accident and failing to provide a breath sample.

Sentencing submissions from the Crown are now complete and Zinter’s lawyer will present his sentencing arguments on Friday, Oct. 12 at 10 a.m.

by Spencer Sterritt

‘You’re a coward:’ grieving family confronts Dustin Zinter in Supreme Court sentencing

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