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Marco Muzzo will spend Christmas behind bars.

Thin and bearded, looking no more like the entitled, Ferrari-driving heir to a building empire, the 29-year-old appeared on video from jail and was remanded in custody for the fifth time since his arrest on charges that he drove drunk and killed three children and their grandfather.

But for the first time since these legal proceedings began, lawyer Brian Greenspan notified the court that he wants his client to appear in person for his Jan. 6 court date and not via videolink. Greenspan declined to comment but the theory advanced by many legal analysts is that a plea bargain is in the works and Muzzo will likely plead guilty on that date.

It’s all speculation, of course, but it would explain the numerous adjournments and why Muzzo — who certainly has the means and the sureties — has been left to languish in jail since the Sept. 27 crash rather than seeking bail.

“I’m taking an educated guess,” says lawyer Edward Prutschi. “I’ve said that for a long time, that I thought a plea deal is coming.”

Daniel Neville-Lake, 9, brother Harrison, 5, sister Milly, 2, and their 65-year-old grandfather Gary Neville died in the Vaughan collision. Muzzo, who had been heading home after his bachelor party in Las Vegas, faces a dozen counts of impaired driving and six more charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

To secure the best possible outcome in such a high-profile, emotionally charged case, Prutschi imagines Greenspan is leaving Muzzo in jail as a mitigating factor that a judge will take into account when it comes time for sentencing. The strategy, he says, is to show the court that he’s genuinely remorseful, spared the family a trial and is so prepared to take responsibility for this horror that he never even sought bail.

The lawyer also expects Greenspan is compiling letters attesting to Muzzo’s otherwise good character and a detailed plan on how he’s addressing any alleged drinking issues. But that’s not all.

As part of any deal, Prutschi suspects Muzzo will also offer a generous financial package to the Neville-Lakes — “not to buy them off” but to try and compensate the family for their devastating loss.

The stakes are high for the prosecutors as well. “The pressure on the Crown is intense with the public scrutiny on a case like this— not only from their bosses and the media, but the family is looking over their shoulder, too,” notes Prutschi. “There is intense pressure not to sell this down the river.”

Based on past cases, he expects a guilty plea will bring a sentence of eight to 10 years. “But whatever they come up with is going to be seen as too soft,” Prutschi warned.

And he is right, of course. This tragic case that has struck at the heart of every parent — the unimaginable nightmare of all your children, suddenly stolen away.

Ed and Jennifer Neville-Lake have bravely attended every court date and graciously spoken to the media after each one. Asked how they would feel if Muzzo’s next appearance is indeed a negotiated plea to some of the charges, they appeared resigned. “It’s not very easy to come and to just sit and just be told wait, just wait,” the children’s mother explained. “I guess if he puts in a plea, he puts in a plea ... We’d be at least able to move, not forward, but we wouldn’t be stagnant.”

Until then, they have more heartache to endure: This will be their first Christmas without their three kids — their family home left deathly silent, empty of laughter and excitement, of little voices and giggles of delight. They have no idea how they will get through the holiday. “I don’t even want to think about it,” Jennifer said, her voice breaking.

First, they somehow have to make it through their baby’s birthday. Milly would have turned three on Dec. 23 and back in the summer they’d booked a Disney “princess” for her birthday party because she loved Anna from the movie Frozen. Now that party has been turned into a memorial for their dead child.

How can any plea deal and any amount of prison time ever set that right?