25-year-old sentenced to 4 years in prison for fatal 2021 Whistler stabbing

A 25-year-old man was sentenced this week to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of another man outside a Whistler, B.C., bistro in 2021.

Investigators say the attack happened in the early hours of Aug. 14, 2021, outside the Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler Village. The victim, 26-year-old Henry Stanley Garcia Molina, was taken to a local medical clinic but died of his injuries. 

The following summer, Dedaar Jhooty of Delta, B.C., was arrested and charged with manslaughter in connection with the stabbing. He was 22 years old at the time of the attack. 

He pleaded guilty to the charge on July 16, 2024.

According to the sentencing decision, a dispute over a taxi preceded the fatal stabbing. Jhooty cut Garcia Molina's left arm twice while the two were in the back of a taxi, then fumbled and dropped the knife.

Another person picked up the knife and fatally stabbed Garcia Molina. There was no evidence that Jhooty was in the taxi when Garcia Molina was fatally stabbed, the judge said in the decision.

The decision went on to say that Jhooty named someone else, whom he believes delivered the fatal blow during a sentencing hearing, although the Crown argued the testimony came "very late" and has not helped authorities.

On Tuesday, Jhooty was sentenced to four years in prison minus six months for his co-operation in the case, according to the decision. Jhooty also has a court-imposed DNA order and a lifetime firearms prohibition.

No one else has been charged in the death. 

"Mr. Garcia Molina had his whole life ahead of him, which was taken away due to a senseless act of violence," Sgt. Freda Fong of IHIT said in a statement Tuesday.

"Our thoughts continue to be with his family as the court proceedings come to a conclusion."