Man sentenced to 10 years in prison following guilty pleas in killing of New Westminster woman

A man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of a New Westminster, B.C., woman whose burned body was found in a park last year has been sentenced to spend another 8.5 years behind bars, with credit for time served.

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Guilty pleas were entered in New Westminster court Tuesday morning in connection with the death of a local woman whose burned body was found in a Burnaby park last year.

Carlo Tobias pleaded guilty to manslaughter and accessory after the fact. The 22-year-old was originally charged with first-degree murder and indignity to human remains, along with a 15-year-old who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Tobias was also charged with sexual interference of a minor.

Investigators believed the victim, 49-year-old Ma Cecillia Loreto, was killed in her New Westminster home on March 17, 2021. Her burned body was found the next day at Greentree Village Park in Burnaby. At the time the charges were laid, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said the two accused and the victim knew each other, but would not elaborate on the details of that connection.

According to an agreed statement of facts read by prosecutor Jay Fogel, the court heard on the day Loreto was killed, Tobias punched her in the face in her home, rendering her unconscious, but said he did not take part in stabbing Loreto afterwards.

“These stab wounds caused Ma Loreto’s death,” Fogel read to the court. “Mr. Tobias did not participate in the stabbing, his involvement in the killing was limited to this punch.”