Sentencing to begin for B.C. man who murdered 13-year-old girl
CBC
A B.C. Supreme Court judge will begin hearing arguments Friday in the sentencing of a man who was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2017 death of a 13-year-old Burnaby girl.
Ibrahim Ali faces a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years for killing the girl, whose name is protected by a publication ban.
Ali was convicted by a jury last December at the end of a lengthy trial that saw adjournments for reasons including the death of an expert witness, Ali's mental and physical health and allegations the victim's father brought a loaded gun to court.
According to the trial proceedings, the victim was on a trail in Burnaby's Central Park, likely wearing earbuds, when she was attacked, dragged into the woods, sexually assaulted and strangled.
The jury heard from almost 50 Crown witnesses, including police, civilians and experts. The defence did not call any evidence.
Ali was arrested in 2018 after investigators ran a complicated sting operation to identify whose DNA was found on the girl's body. He has been in custody ever since.
Prosecutors have said members of the girl's family will be giving victim impact statements during the sentencing hearing and that some would need time to travel from China to Vancouver.
With the B.C. NDP and B.C. Conservatives neck and neck heading into election day on Saturday, there are also a record number of Independent candidates who — if voted in — could hold the balance of power in a minority government scenario. British Columbians have only elected one Independent MLA in the last 60 years. Vicki Huntington won a seat in 2009 and was re-elected in 2013. But University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford said the situation could be different this election cycle. Of the 40 Independent candidates running, six of them are incumbent MLAs, who carry the benefit of name recognition in their community. "So we've got Independents in this election who I think we could deem to be viable shots at actually winning a riding, which is not normal," Telford said. "They're still long shots, but they are certainly plausible candidates."
Though Bill C-282 has received cross-party federal support in Ottawa, Alberta's provincial government says it's not a backer of the Bloc Québécois legislation that aims to prevent Canada's supply-managed sectors — dairy, poultry and eggs — from being included in future international trade negotiations.
A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and 15 others are facing criminal charges for allegedly running a drug-trafficking operation that shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Canada and used violence — including murder — to achieve the group's goals, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.