Yannick Bandaogo (left) appears in court before Justice Geoffrey Gaulin in New Westminster, B.C., on Monday, May 29, 2023 in this artist's sketch. The sentencing hearing for Bandaogo, who attacked numerous people in a fatal North Vancouver stabbing spree two years ago, continues in New Westminster, with family members calling him a "monster" for shattering many lives. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jane Wolsak
NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. – The lawyer representing a man who stabbed a woman to death and injured several other victims at a library in North Vancouver, B.C., two years ago says his client has “limited memory” of the attack and cannot offer a motive for his crimes.
Defence lawyer Georges Rivard told a B.C. Supreme Court sentencing hearing that Yannick Bandaogo accepts responsibility and “the intention was there” during the attack, but the 30-year-old cannot explain what led to it.
Rivard told the hearing in New Westminster that his client had personality traits that may have been “augmented” by drug use, and two psychiatric tests done after the attack determined Bandaogo to have anti-social and aggressive tendencies.
Bandaogo pleaded guilty to murder, several charges of attempted murder and one count of aggravated assault over the March 2021 mass stabbing.
Crown and defence lawyers have jointly proposed that Bandaogo receive a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years, although Justice Geoffrey R.J. Gaul may still decide on a different term.
Crown attorney Daniel Loucks told the court Bandaogo had a criminal record for threatening to stab two strangers in Winnipeg in 2020, as well as assault charges in Quebec.
Rivard told the court his client had a troubled childhood, saying Bandaogo started using drugs at age 12 and was involved in drug and weapon trafficking until age 17.
After that, he says Bandaogo went into boxing to escape his past, but fell back into drugs, starting to use crystal methamphetamine at age 23.
Victim impact statements concluded Thursday, with the mother-in-law of the lone victim killed in the attack calling Bandaogo a “monster” who stole from her son a life with the woman he loved.
She told the court her son and the victim had been planning to build a life together in Canada, and her death devastated everyone who knew the young woman.
She says Bandaogo “robbed” the victim’s families, a statement that prompted Bandaogo to momentarily bow his head.
The names of the murdered woman and her family are under a publication ban at the hearing, which began Wednesday and is scheduled to continue into Friday.
Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence, with a non-parole period of 10 to 25 years.
Six people were injured in the attack in and around the Lynn Valley Library. The victims ranged in age from 22 to 78.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2023.
