The ex-boyfriend who murdered Burnaby’s Nicole Porciello has been sentence to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years.
Jan Poepl pleaded guilty to second degree murder in February in relation to Porciello’s November 2018 death.
At a sentencing hearing last month, the court heard that Poepl, her on-again, off-again boyfriend for seven years, had become jealous that she was seeing another man.
On Nov. 16, 2018, Poepl picked Porciello up in a rental vehicle and stabbed her 47 times, according to an agreement statement of facts read out in court.
Later, he drove the vehicle at high speed into a light standard on the Barnet Highway, according to the statement.
Emergency crews had to cut Poepl out of the vehicle with the Jaws of Life, but Porciello, who also used the surname Hasselmann, was found unresponsive in a ditch 30 feet away, according to police statements at the time.
Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with between 10 and 25 years of parole ineligibility.
Crown prosecutor Karima Adani argued for a 15-year period of parole ineligibility.
Poepl’s lawyer, Kevin Westell, called for 10 years without parole eligibility.
On Tuesday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker sentenced him to life in prison without eligibility for parole for 15 years.
Porciello, who was 34 years old when she was killed, worked as an education assistant at Templeton Secondary School in Vancouver.
Her son was 10 when Poepl took her life.
Porciello’s family and friends launched a social media campaign ahead of Poepl’s final sentencing hearing to bring attention to her tragic death and the possibility that Poepl could end up eligible for parole in 10 years.
In statements to the media outside Vancouver Supreme Court Tuesday, Porciello’s father, Giuseppe Porciello, expressed disappointment and anger as Ker’s decision.
“Justice doesn’t exist in this country,” he told Global News.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
Email cnaylor@burnabynow.com
