The man who stabbed multiple people, killing one, outside a library in North Vancouver two years ago has been sentenced to life behind bars with no chance of parole for 15 years.
Yannick Bandaogo pleaded guilty this year to second-degree murder, several charges of attempted murder, and one count of aggravated assault over the March 2021 attack outside the Lynn Valley Library.
He appeared in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster on Thursday, where Justice Geoffrey Gaul revealed his sentencing decision for what he described as a “monstrous act.”
Crown and defence lawyers had jointly proposed Bandaogo receive a life sentence with no chance of parole for 15 years. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life term, with a minimum of 10 years before parole can be granted.
“Mr. Bandaogo took responsibility for his act,” Bandaogo’s lawyer, Georges Rivard, said outside the courthouse on Thursday. “He understands the consequences and the impact. He does.”
Rivard did not know where his client would be serving his sentence, he added.
Bandaogo, a Quebec native, last appeared in court on July 7, where he apologized to each of his victims by name, stating that blame for the tragedy that shook the community lies with him alone.
The 30-year-old could not offer a motive, but spoke about a troubled childhood that led him into drug use. Speaking softly while reading a prepared statement in French, he told the court it was difficult to find the words to explain his journey.
At the time, Bandaogo said when he left Quebec, he took his family problems with him, travelling to Vancouver via Toronto and Winnipeg. He said the availability of crystal meth in those cities led him to consume an “enormous” amount of the drug, which “played a role” in his behaviour.
Bandaogo said he felt incapable of asking for help and unable to change his fate as his physical and mental health deteriorated. He expressed his “most sincere condolences” to all those impacted and recognized the far-reaching consequences of his actions.
Bandaogo was homeless at the time of the attack and his presence on the North Shore that day may have been “coincidence,” Rivard said during the sentencing hearing in July.
That’s when the court heard impact statements from victims and their relatives, including the mother of the woman who was killed, who said the death of her “gentle” and “fearless” daughter had shattered the family.
The victim’s mother-in-law also spoke, calling Bandaogo a “monster” who stole from her son a life with the woman he loved.
Bandaogo’s own mother also spoke in court, through a statement in French read aloud by her son’s lawyer. The woman’s name was never made public.
She too, addressed her son’s victims directly and apologized for the “unprecedented” tragedy.
“I hear your anger, your frustration, your sadness and your distress,” the lawyer said in French on her behalf. “I am so sorry.”
She also called for better support for those with mental health and addictions challenges so such tragedies never reoccur.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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