One of two men responsible for the death of 78-year-old Vancouver resident Usha Singh should be sentenced to 12 years in prison, Crown prosecutors told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker on Friday.
On May 27, Pascal Jean Claude Bouthillette pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Jan. 31, 2021 home invasion death of Singh.
Crown prosecutors and defence counsel for Bouthillette have agreed to a 12-year sentence, Crown prosecutor Jacinta Lawton told the judge at a sentencing hearing.
Prior to any decision being made, however, Ker was walked through evidence in the case, including events captured on Singh's home video surveillance leading up to the death.
A video shows Bouthillette and co-accused Sandy Jack Parisian, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter on March 4, dressed like Vancouver police officers then entering Singh’s home prior to the home invasion.
Bouthillette had initially been charged with murder.
Lawton has already told Ker that Parisian should spend eight years in prison. Parisian has yet to be sentenced.
Bouthillette’s proposed sentence would actually see him only spend a further seven years in prison, due to time served prior to the trial (1,215 days).
At the time of his arrest, police said Parisian had been living in a homeless camp near Vancouver’s Strathcona Park.
In a Glacier Media interview prior to the incident, Parisian had styled himself the mayor of Oppenheimer Park, the scene of a large homeless camp.
With files from Jeremy Hainsworth/Glacier Media
