Convicted killer Jamie Michael Cliff should spend at least 25 years behind bars for stabbing his ex-girlfriend 19 times and slitting the throat of her room-mate before lighting him on fire, B.C. Supreme Court Justice William Ehrcke ruled Monday.
It was only the second time in B.C. history that a judge ruled that a killer convicted of second-degree murder must serve a minimum of 25 years in jail before being eligible for parole.
A jury convicted Cliff June 10 of two counts of second-degree murder for attacking Lana Marie Christophersen, 26, and 21-year-old Andrew Gawley in east Vancouver on October 25, 2008.
The only other person guilty of second-degree murder who was ordered to spent so long in jail is serial killer Robert Pickton, convicted in December 2007 in the slayings of six women.
A second-degree murder conviction carries a life sentence with a minimum parole eligibility period of 10 years, where as a first-degree conviction carries an automatic term of 25 to life.
Ehrcke said "these two murders fall into the worst group of offences and Mr. Cliff is a member of the worst group of offenders."
Cliff, 36, sat emotionless in a dark sweater and white shirt as Ehrcke said the deaths of Christophersen and Gawley were "particularly brutal, pointless and without provocation."
"These were senseless, cruel and cowardly murders," he said.
He called Cliff "a merchant of misery" for his years manufacturing and selling methamphetamines and other drugs.
And he said Cliff had been given numerous chances at rehabilitation after dozens of previous convictions, including 13 for assault and one for manslaughter.
"All the previous attempts at rehabilitation have failed," Ehrcke said. "Mr. Cliff has been in trouble with the law more or less continually since his first conviction for assault when he was just 13 years old."
The judge noted that Gawley, who didn't even know Cliff, was stabbed in the throat as he lay in bed, then doused with gasoline and set on fire as he called 911. Gawley survived the attack, underwent surgery and skin grafts and died three months later of infection at Vancouver General Hospital.
"Mr. Gawley must have suffered terribly for the three months he lived in hospital," Ehrcke said.
As the judge announced the rare maximum term, relatives and supporters of the two victims sobbed and cheered in the public gallery.
A former boyfriend of Christophersen's gestured at Cliff as he was led away by sheriffs and Cliff responded by showing the spectator his middle finger.
Several of Christophersen's relatives wore pins with her photo on it.
The young woman had dated Cliff for several months in 2008, living with him briefly in a fortified house from which he sold drugs. She broke up with him and moved out, taking a one-month sublet for October in Gawley's east Vancouver apartment until her new place was ready.
Gawley was not even in Vancouver for part of that month as the film school graduate was off doing charity work for World Vision.
Christophersen had been with Cliff the night before she was slain at a Richmond drug house, where the two had fought. They took a taxi to Gawley's apartment about 4 a.m. Oct. 25.
About four hours later, neighbours heard Christophersen screaming "he's going to kill me" and Ehrcke said she was likely being stabbed at the time.
Cliff then went to Gawley's bedroom and told him "that Lana was dying" as he stabbed Gawley in the throat.
"It is okay to give up - you are dead, you are dead. Go to sleep," Cliff told Gawley, according to statements the victim gave to police before he died.
Cliff fled the scene and called a number of gang associates to help him hide out, but was arrested a few days later.
Cliff's lawyer Jim Heller had argued for a minimum jail term of 17 or 18 years, saying "this was not the worst of cases and Mr. Cliff is not the worst offender."
And he highlighted Cliff's difficult childhood: an alcoholic father and drug attack-prostitute mother who gave him up at 12. He was likely sexually abused as a child, the court heard.
He bounced from group home to group home as a teenager and was constantly being in trouble with police, except for a brief stint as a military cadet which he loved.
But Ehrcke rejected Hellers's submissions, saying Cliff deserved the maximum sentence for his brutal crimes.
"I find this necessary for the protection of the public," Ehrcke said.
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