Second degree murder
R. v. W.W.C.
A publication ban applies. The offender is not named.
- On release at the time
Sentence and the Crown's position
Both are life sentences, so the bars compare how long before parole can be considered.
What the law allows
A jury convicted the offender of two counts of second degree murder for the May 2021 killings of two men on a remote forest service road near Naramata, where they had come for a large drug sale. The Crown sought life imprisonment with parole ineligibility of 18 years and the defence 12 years. Justice Brown imposed life imprisonment with no parole eligibility for 18 years on each count, citing the brutal, gratuitously violent nature of the killings, the steps taken to conceal them, and the offender being on bail at the time.
In the judge's words
1Denunciation and deterrence are the paramount sentencing principles that apply in this case. The murders occurred against the backdrop of engagement in a criminal enterprise and must be properly denounced and deterred.
The record
- Convicted of
- Second degree murder (CC 231(7), 2 counts)
- Prior convictions
- Not recorded
- At the time of the offence
- On bail1
- Defence asked for
- Life, no parole for 12 years1
- Mandatory minimum
- Applied1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: A. Willms, K. Johnston, N. Grégoire, M. Rygus
Defence: J. Watt
Sources
- R. v. W.W.C., 2024 BCSC 2253 Court decision, CanLII, November 19, 2024
[3] In this case, the Crown says that the appropriate sentence is life imprisonment without eligibility for parole on each of the two counts for a period of 18 years.
[3] … The defence says that the appropriate sentence is life imprisonment without eligibility for parole for each of the two counts for 12 years.
[1] … A conviction for second degree murder means that … receives a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for at least 10 years.
[49] … was on bail, subject to conditions, at the time of these offences.
[50] Denunciation and deterrence are the paramount sentencing principles that apply in this case. The murders occurred against the backdrop of engagement in a criminal enterprise and must be properly denounced and deterred.
[1] … A conviction for second degree murder means that … receives a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for at least 10 years. … [52] Considering the cases provided to me by the Crown and by the defence, in my view it is appropriate that the period of parole ineligibility be fixed at 18 years for each offence.
- R. v. W.W.C., 2024 BCSC 2253 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia