Jessica Payne, left, and her sister Calla Payne leave B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, B.C., Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. Their father Martin Payne, 60, was killed in 2019 by two men who escaped from a Vancouver Island prison. Zachary Armitage pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, while James Lee Busch was found guilty of the same charge in a trial. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VANCOUVER – A B.C. Supreme Court judge has sentenced Zachary Armitage to life in prison without chance of parole for 25 years for the “grotesque” first-degree murder of Martin Payne at his home on Vancouver Island.
Justice David Crossin says the killing in July 2019 was “senseless” and “absolutely cowardly, without qualification.”
Co-defendant James Lee Busch’s trial in November heard that he and Armitage escaped William Head prison and waited for their 60-year-old victim at his Metchosin home before they killed him.
Busch was found guilty at trial, while Armitage changed his plea and admitted the charge.
Armitage addressed Payne’s family at sentencing and said he was “disgusted” with himself and the pain he had caused.
The court also heard victim impact statements from Payne’s family and loved ones.
Daughter Jessica Payne said: “How could this have happened to my dad? He was such a gentle and compassionate man.”
She said she often thinks of the violent way he died. “This truly haunts me.”
Catherine Stewart, the mother of Payne’s children, called him the patriarch of the family and said she doesn’t understand why he had to die in such an “inhumane and evil way.”
Payne’s older sister, Colleen Payne, said he was brutally murdered and did nothing to cause this.
She turned to address Armitage and told him: “My sincere hope is that you will seek help and try to heal your own inner pain.”
In his statement to Payne’s family, Armitage said he wished he could “take the pain all back.”
“I’d give my life for his. I’m sorry. I wish you guys peace. I’m sorry,” he said.
Busch was sentenced last month to the same term of life without parole for 25 years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2022.
