First degree murder
R. v. Mariani
Sentence and the Crown's position
What the law allows
Luciano Mariani pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for killing a woman in her home in Bowser in 2021. Justice Baird imposed the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole eligibility for 25 years, describing the murder as exceptionally violent and planned over many months. In the same ruling, he declared of no force or effect the 2011 provisions that barred post-2011 first-degree murder offenders from applying for a reduction of parole ineligibility after 15 years, so the offender may apply after serving 15 years.
In the judge's words
1There is nothing disproportionate about the mandatory penalty for you, Mr. Mariani, because the murder that you committed was exceptionally violent, rehearsed and deliberated over many months, and committed in cold blood against a vulnerable person and a former intimate partner.
The record
- Convicted of
- First degree murder (CC 231(2))
- Prior convictions
- Not recorded
- At the time of the offence
- Not stated1
- Mandatory minimum
- Applied1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: L. Vizsolyi, N. Barber
Defence: J. Conroy, K.C., D. Turko, K.C., A. Krieger
Sources
- R. v. Mariani, 2025 BCSC 1298 Court decision, CanLII, July 9, 2025
[2] The mandatory penalty for first-degree murder is set out in s. 235(1) of the Criminal Code: imprisonment for life. The period of parole ineligibility for this offence is fixed in s. 745(a) of the Code: offenders must serve 25 years of their life sentence without eligibility for parole.
[46] Luciano Emilio Mariani, for the first degree murder of … I hereby impose a sentence of life imprisonment without eligibility for parole until you have served 25 years.
[44] … There is nothing disproportionate about the mandatory penalty for you, Mr. Mariani, because the murder that you committed was exceptionally violent, rehearsed and deliberated over many months, and committed in cold blood against a vulnerable person and a former intimate partner.
[46] Luciano Emilio Mariani, for the first degree murder of … I hereby impose a sentence of life imprisonment without eligibility for parole until you have served 25 years. In accordance with the ruling of this court herein, after serving at least 15 years of your sentence, you may apply under s. 745.6 of the Code for a reduction in the number of years of imprisonment without eligibility for parole.
- R. v. Mariani, 2025 BCSC 1298 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia