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Canadian Mountie killer jailed for five life sentences
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(5 months later)
A man who killed three Canadian mounted police officers, has been given five life sentences in prison with no parole for 75 years – the harshest sentence handed down by a Canadian court since the death penalty was eliminated.
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Justin Bourque, 24, pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder over the June shootings in which he walked down the streets of the eastern Canadian city of Moncton carrying multiple weapons and then shot police who responded to calls from concerned neighbours.
The incident was one of the worst of its kind in Canada, where gun laws are stricter than in the neighbouring United States.
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There was no trial due to Bourque’s guilty plea and he apologised to the families of his victims earlier in the week at the sentencing hearing, saying he had taken the easy way out. He had previously bragged without remorse about his shooting skills in a police interrogation after his arrest.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said Bourque was armed with a rifle and a shotgun and carried a gas mask, binoculars and two knives. He evaded arrest after the shootings, sparking a 28-hour lockdown and manhunt, until he was found in a yard close to the shootings the following day and gave himself up without a fight.
Prosecutors had asked that Bourque get three consecutive life sentences, while Bourque’s defence lawyer asked that his client be allowed to apply for parole after 50 years.
The widow of Doug Larche, one of the slain police officers, said their daughters would grow up knowing their father was “an incredible man and a hero,” but their lives will never be the same. She said the unprecedented sentence would spare them some pain.
RCMP New Brunswick Assistant Commissioner Roger Brown said the crime had left “many victims” and while the Bourque’s guilty plea was welcome “you can’t undo the damage inflicted on the victims, and in this case there are many”.
A 2011 legal change allows judges in Canadto hand down consecutive sentences in cases of multiple murder. Bourque’s 75-year prison sentence is the longest since the change and the harshest since Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976.
