Amritpal Saran's mother Jitinder Saran, right, wipes away tears as his sister Simrit Saran holds a photo of her late brother during an Integrated Homicide Investigation Team news conference announcing charges in his death, at RCMP headquarters in Surrey, B.C., on Monday January 6, 2014. Two Surrey residents have been charged in relation to the deaths of Amritpal Saran, Karen Nabors and Jill Lyons.DARRYL DYCK/The Globe and Mail
Sheri Hickman remembers the first time she saw Jill Lyons. It was 1968 and Ms. Hickman had just adopted the infant – a beautiful, red-haired, brown-eyed bundle, she recalls. "It was love at first sight."
Ms. Lyons would grow up on Saltspring Island, holding her wedding in the family garden. Two sons followed and Ms. Hickman was there for each delivery. The mother and daughter were unquestionably close.
But in 2013, Ms. Lyons was killed in her Lower Mainland home – she was one of three people slain by Sarbjit Bains that year.
On Thursday, at a sentencing hearing for Mr. Bains in B.C. Supreme Court, friends and family of the three deceased tearfully told stories of lives ripped apart.
Ms. Lyons and Karen Nabors lived in the same building and were killed within two weeks of each other. Both had been working in the sex trade, prompting police to issue a public warning. Amritpal Saran was killed months earlier, and the Crown said he had battled addiction and consumed drugs with Mr. Bains on the day he was slain.
But as family members took to the courtroom microphone one by one to read victim impact statements, they told stories of loved ones that transcended those labels.
Ms. Lyons was described as someone with a quirky sense of humour who had hit a rough patch after becoming addicted to a painkiller following surgery, but was starting to turn things around.
Ms. Nabors, who also had two sons, was portrayed as her family's rock. Mr. Saran was a caring older brother who was hoping to get married soon.
Mr. Bains pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the deaths of Ms. Lyons and Ms. Nabors, and manslaughter in the death of Mr. Saran. The Crown and defence asked for a sentence of life in prison with no parole for 18 years. The judge reserved her decision.
Mr. Bains was arrested in January, 2014. Police announced last April he would plead guilty in the three deaths.
Thursday offered the first glimpse at the killer's motive. Court heard Mr. Bains claim he choked Mr. Saran after the latter attempted to get into bed with Mr. Bains's girlfriend. Mr. Bains then dumped Mr. Saran's body in a secluded area and lit it on fire. His girlfriend was earlier convicted of indignity to Mr. Saran's remains and sentenced to two years less a day in jail.
Of Ms. Lyons and Ms. Nabors, Mr. Bains said he was desperate for money and planned to rob them. Court heard he said he choked each woman after she began to scream. Neither was sexually assaulted.
Ms. Nabors's son, in a statement read aloud by the Crown, said not a day goes by that he doesn't think of his mother. "It hurts so much that she is gone," he said.
Dozens of friends and family members packed the courtroom. Those close to Ms. Nabors wore T-shirts with an image of her face on them.
Mr. Saran's relatives urged Mr. Bains to look at them as they spoke. He largely stared down. "Do you not have the decency to look up? You caused it," Mr. Saran's younger brother said.
Mr. Saran's sister said she will never be able to forgive Mr. Bains, and Mr. Saran's mother said her life was turned upside-down after her first-born was killed. "My life was beautiful until you took my son away," she said.
Mr. Bains, dressed in red prison sweats and with a beard and long hair, read a statement near the end of the proceeding. He said he could not ask loved ones of the deceased to forgive him because he could not forgive himself. He apologized for his actions, and said he wished he could do something to ease the families' pain.