WARNING: This story contains disturbing details and may not be suitable for all readers. Discretion is advised.
British Columbia’s top court has thrown out an attempt by double child-killer Andrew Berry to lighten his sentence.
A jury found Berry guilty on two counts of second-degree murder in September 2019, for the brutal stabbing deaths of his daughters, six-year-old Chloe and four-year-old Aubrey, on Christmas Day 2017.
He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 22 years.
After unsuccessfully appealing his conviction, Berry challenged his sentence with several arguments, including that the trial judge had wrongly characterized his motive and had failed to properly account for the jury’s sentencing recommendations.
In a decision published Friday, a B.C. Court of Appeal three-judge panel rejected those arguments.
The court ruled that Berry’s trial had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he resented his wife for separating from him, and that he believed she had done so in a way to inflict “maximum damage on him personally and financially.”
“The sentencing judge had overwhelming evidence of the significant discord between Mr. Berry and (his wife) which included Mr. Berry asserting that he was antagonistic towards (her) before and after the killings,” the ruling states.
“The killings were brutal, involving multiple stab wounds on tiny, defenceless people. In my view, the conclusion of the sentencing judge that Mr. Berry was “vengeful to an inordinate degree” is wholly supported by the evidence.”
The court went on to rule that a sentencing judge is under no legal requirement to follow a jury’s sentence recommendations. Two jurors had recommended 10 years imprisonment before parole eligibility, while six had suggested 15 years, but served consecutively.
The judges also rejected arguments that Berry’s sentence was unconstitutional and that it was unfit.
At trial, the court heard how Berry was found in the bathtub of his Oak Bay apartment with multiple stab wounds.
His daughters were found stabbed to death in their beds.
The Crown argued Berry’s wounds were self-inflicted and he had killed his daughters after hitting rock bottom over a crippling gambling addiction that made him unable to pay his bills.
Prosecutors and witnesses had told the court Berry was fearful his financial state would lead to him losing custody of the girls to his ex-partner, who he resented.
Berry and his defence have maintained the father was attacked by a person connected to a loan shark named “Paul” to whom he owed a significant gambling debt, and woke up later to discover his daughters had been killed.
— with files from Sean Boynton