Man who killed 2 in case of mistaken identity sentenced to life in prison

A B.C. man who pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder has been given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 14 years.

The sentence was handed out in a Vancouver courtroom on Friday to Colin Raymond Correia, who was initially acquitted in the killing of two people: Leanne MacFarlane and her partner, Jeffrey Todd Taylor — an acquittal that would later be appealed.

The double homicide took place in Cranbrook, in B.C.'s Kootenay region, on May 29, 2010.

Cranbrook RCMP responded to calls of a shooting at a rented rural residence near Highway 93 and discovered the body of MacFarlane, 43, and a critically injured Taylor, 42.

Four men, including Correia, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and counselling to commit the offences of aggravated assault and murder.

Gang hit at wrong targets

At the time, RCMP said all four men were known to police and argued a murder plan was hatched out of revenge for a shooting in a Cranbrook bar in 2009

"The theory of the Crown was that Mr. Correia and a co‑accused were members of a gang engaged in criminal activity, including dealing in illicit drugs, and that they attended the residence intending to kill Doug Mahon, a member of the rival gang who had resided there previously," the appeal court judges said in an October 2024 decision.

"The Crown contends that unknown to Mr. Correia and his co‑accused, Mr. Mahon had moved from the residence months before the shootings, and it had been re‑let to Ms. MacFarlane and Mr. Taylor. In the Crown's theory, the two victims were shot and killed by mistake."

In 2013, Correia was convicted of the conspiracy to murder Mahon and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

In 2018, he was arrested once again while out on parole in Edmonton and charged with the first-degree murder of Taylor and McFarlane.

Over the course of two days, he was interrogated by RCMP in Alberta and made what Crown prosecutors argued were incriminating statements.

But the statements were ruled inadmissible by the trial judge who suggested they had been obtained through "police trickery", with RCMP suggesting to Correia that he couldn't self-incriminate because he had already served time for conspiracy against Mahon.

In April 2022, Correia was found not guilty, but the Crown appealed, arguing his statements should have been heard during the trial and the verdict would have been different had they been considered.

The appeal court judge agreed — finding in October 2024 that Correia understood he faced the possibility of a murder trial and "understood the ramifications of such a conviction."

He was charged once again with two counts of first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of second-degree murder.

Apart from the life sentence, he has a lifetime ban on owning or using firearms and must submit a sample of his DNA.