By Barry Ellsworth
MONCTON, Canada
The man who went on a rampage in June and killed three Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers was sentenced Friday to 75 years in prison, the longest in Canadian history.
Justin Bourque, 24, of Moncton, New Brunswick, pled guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and two for attempted murder of RCMP officers, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Chief Justice David Smith, in handing down the sentence, said Bourque committed “one of the most horrific crimes in the history of Canada.”
Canada does not have the death penalty and the sentence was the harshest since the last execution in 1962.
A call was made to the RCMP on June 4 about a man wandering in Moncton with a gun.
When police arrived at the scene, Bourque opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle, killing constables Dave Ross, 32, Fabrice Gevaudan, 45, and Douglas Larche, 40. Also injured were constables Eric Dubois and Darlene Goguen.
A 28-hour manhunt followed with much of the city in lockdown until Bourque was apprehended just after midnight June 6.
At his sentencing hearing after his arrest, Bourque explained via a recorded statement that the shootings were designed to get people to rise up against the “soldiers” that protected the rich.
New Brunswick RCMP commanding officer Roger Brown said the sentence was proper.
“Am I happy with the verdict? I am,” Brown told reporters. He said it should serve as a deterrent to others.
Outside the courtroom, the three widows of the slain Mounties said the crime was devastating.
“Our lives and the lives of our children have forever changed,” Nadine Larche, Rachael Ross and Angela Gevaudan said in a group statement.
After the sentencing, Bourque directed words toward the families, saying that he wanted to express his sorrow over what he had done.
Shedding tears, he said the crime was something “I’m going to have to live with the rest of my life. I am sorry. There’s nothing else to say.”
Bourque will be eligible for parole when his is 99.
www.aa.com.tr/en
