Quebec City mosque shooter sentenced to 40 years before possibility of parole
Alexandre Bissonnette, the man responsible for the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting that left six people dead, has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years.
According to CBC, the now 29-year-old Bissonnette will serve an automatic life sentence for shooting and killing the men during a prayer at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec on January 29, 2017.
Last March, Bissonnette pleaded guilty to six count of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder in the attack.
Bissonnette will be eligible to go before the Parole Board of Canada after serving 40 years of his sentence, said Superior Court Justice François Huot. He will be 67-years-old.
See also
- Serial killer Bruce McArthur sentenced to 25 years in prison
- Terrorist attack at Quebec City mosque leaves 6 dead
- Canadian muslim group requests National Day of Remembrance for Quebec mosque shooting
Huot chose not to give him consecutive sentences, which would have meant Bissonnette would have been eligible for release in 150 years, — 25 for each man he killed — which would have been the longest prison sentence in Canadian history.
Huot concluded that consecutive sentences were “unreasonable” and that sending a criminal to die in prison would go against Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, according to the report.
While first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence, Huot said he had to decide how long Bissonnette would have to wait before he could ask for parole.
Before finalizing the sentence, Huot warned the courtroom to be respectful of the decision, saying that no protest would be tolerated.
Bissonnette pleaded guilty in March 2018 to six counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder on the wounded, and a sixth count of attempted murder for the 35 people, including children, present during the attack.
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