RCMP officers continue to work outside a crime scene at the corner of Cornwall Drive in Penticton, B.C., on Tuesday April 16, 2019. A sentencing hearing is scheduled to continue today, Oct. 15, 2020 for a man who pleaded guilty to four murders last year in Penticton, B.C.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff Bassett
October 15, 2020 - 10:09 AM
KELOWNA, B.C. - A sentencing hearing is scheduled to continue today for a man who pleaded guilty to four murders last year in Penticton, B.C.
John Brittain pleaded guilty Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court to three charges of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder.
The court heard the 69-year-old man killed Rudi Winter, Barry and Susan Wonch, and Darlene Knippelberg on April 15, 2019, shooting each of them multiple times.
Crown attorney Colin Forsyth said Brittain explained to a police interviewer that the victims, who were all neighbours, had been harassing his ex-wife for years.
First- and second-degree murder convictions carry automatic life sentences.
Parole eligibility for first-degree murder is set at 25 years, while it is between 10 and 25 years for second-degree murder.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2020.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2020