Killer of Vancouver Tatlow Park caretaker receives life sentence
Brent White killed popular Kitsilano resident Justis Daniel in December 2021
The man convicted of second-degree murder in the gruesome killing of popular Kitsilano park caretaker Justis Daniel has received a life sentence with no chance of parole for 12 years.
Brent White, 54, was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday after Justice Miriam A. Maisonville found him guilty in May following a trial where his self-defence explanation was rejected and no other motive was offered or determined.
A group of Daniel's friends were in attendance, including his ex-wife Susan Daniel, who read one of three victim impact statements to the court on the first day of sentencing on July 11.
She described his violent death by the man he had welcomed into his Tatlow Park cottage home as "a deep and painful hole in our lives," and her grief "incredibly difficult to bear."
The couple's son, Amaris Daniel, also read a victim impact statement to the court by video link and said his father "was the best friend that anyone could ever ask for."
"I cherish the memories I have of him. I learned kindness and empathy through him. Losing my father has left me heartbroken without one of my most trusted friends."
The court heard about Daniel's passion for music and poetry and his compassion for people in his life, including strangers.
White sat impassively in the court after arriving in a wheelchair and slowly rising and using a cane to enter the glassed-in witness box.
The court heard that his physical health had deteriorated since being incarcerated following his arrest in 2022, months after the killing, due to injuries from a vehicle accident in 2011.
Daniel, 77, was found dead in a bloody scene inside his Tatlow Park caretaker's cottage on Dec. 10, 2021. He had been stabbed 42 times in the head, face and neck and had suffered blunt force trauma to the head.
White's defence never contested that he killed Daniel, but argued he had done it in self-defence.
During the trial, White testified that Daniel suddenly became violent, bit White's neck and drank his blood as the two men sat on a couch in the cottage watching CNN.
He said Daniel threw a knife at him and claimed to be Iblis, the Islamic equivalent of the devil. White said he defended himself using a knife to "recompense" Daniel for his actions.
But Maisonville said White's testimony was inconsistent, neither credible nor reliable, and "a product of hindsight at best of a bizarre nature."
She said White's assertion that Daniel — a frail 77-year-old who weighed just 139 pounds — could have attacked White in the way he described was not reasonable.
She said there was no evidence that White had a mental condition that could raise a reasonable doubt as to his intent to kill, intent being a necessary finding for guilt in second-degree murder.
White covered up Daniel's body and blood stains after the murder and took Daniel's cellphone and key, and locked the cottage door behind him when he left. He later disposed of the key and phone.
He was arrested three months after the murder after being identified on video that police gathered from the Tatlow Park area.
Traces of Daniel's blood were found on a folding knife and sandals located in the van that White lived in.
The court heard that the two men were acquaintances who had visited in Daniel's cottage on occasions prior to the killing.
Crown and counsel jointly submitted a request for a life sentence with no chance for parole for 12 years — two years greater than the minimum.
When asked if he would like to say anything to the court at his sentencing, White declined. He had no criminal record prior to the murder.
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With files from Karin Larsen