Vancouver Sun

Sechelt man who murdered his mom gets life sentence

- KEITH FRASER kfraser@postmedia.com twitter.com/keithrfras­er

A Sechelt man who was convicted of murdering his mother was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no parole eligibilit­y for 10 years.

At the outset of his trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, Donovan Michael Penner, 51, pleaded not guilty to the October 2014 second-degree murder of his mother, Denise Lachance, 67. But about a week into the trial, after several Crown witnesses had testified, Penner changed his plea to guilty.

In imposing sentence on Penner, B.C. Supreme Court Justice David Crossin said he accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence calling for Penner to serve 10 years before he can apply for parole.

Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 25 years of parole ineligibil­ity.

The judge said he could see no circumstan­ces that would cause him to vary the 10-year period of parole ineligibil­ity being sought by counsel.

The trial heard that on the evening of the slaying, the victim and her husband, David Lachance, had gone to bed in their trailer in the Sunshine Coast community of Sechelt.

When David Lachance, the stepfather of the accused, got up to go to the bathroom, he noticed that the bed frame and the mattress in a small room where Penner slept were askew.

When he returned from the bathroom, he noticed that the mattress was moving and went inside to investigat­e.

He was stunned to discover the naked body of his wife lying face down on the floor. The victim was clearly dead, her head bludgeoned. Penner, also naked, sat squatting at her feet, staring in silence.

A bloody 10-pound dumbbell, the murder weapon, was found nearby.

The stepfather fled the room, with police arriving soon after to arrest the accused.

The judge said that the evidence leaves no doubt that Penner’s assault on his mother was a “determined and unequivoca­l attack of bloody and unremittin­g brutality.

“It is also clear it occurred within a unique context of a complicate­d and disturbing family dynamic.”

Penner, who was 48 at the time of the slaying, was an alcoholic and had consumed a considerab­le amount prior the murder. The Crown argued that despite his drinking, he had sufficient intent to commit murder.

The accused had a quick temper, at least around his mother, and had previously engaged in heated arguments with her.

Before the fatal attack, Penner had been physically abusive toward his mother, who had psychiatri­c difficulti­es, and police had previously been called to the trailer to quell disturbanc­es between mother and son, the judge noted.

Crossin cited a victim-impact statement from David Lachance that reflected the fact that the murder of his wife had forever changed his life.

“No amount of remorse or contrition on the part of Mr. Penner will change that.”

The judge agreed to a request by the defence for a recommenda­tion that for safety and rehabilita­tion reasons Penner be transferre­d to a prison in Manitoba to serve out his sentence.

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