Sarbjit Bains, who pleaded guilty to killing his friend Amritpal Saran and two sex trade workers, was automatically sentenced to life Thursday afternoon.
SURREY – A “killer friend” of victim Amritpal Saran from Surrey, who pleaded guilty to killing the Indo-Canadian man and two sex trade workers, was automatically sentenced to life Thursday afternoon.
Sarbjit Bain refused to face one of his victim’s families at a sentencing hearing Thursday.
Sitting in the prisoner’s box in New Westminster provincial court, Bains hung his head despite repeated calls from the family of Saran to look at them, reported CTV News.
The court heard Bains choked Saran, who was his friend, after a night of alcohol and cocaine consumption. Saran’s burned body was found on Colebrook Road in Surrey in February 2013.
Bains’s other victims, Jill Lyons and Karen Nabors, were found dead in the same New Westminster apartment building within weeks of each other in August 2013.
The families of all three victims packed the courtroom on Thursday hoping to send a strong message to the judge.
Bains was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder, but pleaded down to manslaughter in Saran’s killing and second-degree murder in the deaths of Lyons and Nabors.
Crown and the defence have already agreed Bains should serve a mandatory life sentence with no eligibility for parole after 18 years, but the judge can still decide to hand down a shorter or longer term.
Bains had no criminal record before being arrested in connection with the murders.
