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‘Mother’s worst nightmare’: Victim’s mother speaks in B.C. dismemberment case

Click to play video: 'Mother of murder victim Sidney Mantee addresses killer Paris Laroche in court'
Mother of murder victim Sidney Mantee addresses killer Paris Laroche in court
A Nanaimo woman convicted in the 2020 killing and dismemberment of her boyfriend is hearing from her victim's mother in court this week. As Christa Dao reports, it comes as Paris Laroche is set to learn when she'll be eligible for parole. Warning: This story contains disturbing details – Jan 31, 2025

WARNING: This story contains disturbing details and may not be suitable for all readers. Discretion is advised.

A woman who was found guilty of killing her boyfriend and then dismembering him and dumping his body parts around Vancouver Island was expected to be sentenced on Friday but that has been adjourned to a later date.

Last July, Paris Laroche was convicted of the lesser charge of second-degree murder as well as interfering with a body. She was originally charged in March 2022 with first-degree murder.

Sidney Joseph Mantee, Laroche’s boyfriend, was initially reported missing in October 2020.

Mantee’s mother Emma read a victim impact statement in court on Friday.

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She called Laroche a “mother’s worst nightmare” and said that her son’s death “tore (her) to pieces.”

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“You are the most despicable person I’ve ever come across,” Mantee said.

“You did not make a victim out of me. You made me a stronger woman.”

She said her son is in a better place without Laroche and told her son’s former girlfriend that she is evil and has no heart.

At the trial, the court heard that Laroche bludgeoned 32-year-old Mantee with a hammer, then slit his throat while he slept. She then gutted and drained his body as if it were a deer carcass.

Laroche told undercover officers she heard an owl hooting early that morning – essentially a sign that the time had come. Laroche, who was 24 at the time, had watched videos on how to gut animals, and stored Mantee’s dismembered body in her freezer.

She then stuffed his remains in a backpack and disposed of him around Vancouver Island over several months.

The Crown is seeking 15 years in prison along with a lifetime firearms ban and no contact with Mantee’s family.

Defence argued that Laroche was in an abusive relationship with Mantee, she had no criminal record and she was only 24 years old at the time.

Laroche is now expected to be sentenced on Thursday, Feb. 6.

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