Paris Jayanne Laroche remains on trial for first degree murder and indignity to human remains in connection to the death of her the-boyfriend Sidney Mantee in 2020. (submitted photo)

By Ian Holmes

murder trial

Closing arguments scheduled in trial of Nanaimo woman accused of dismembering ex boyfriend

Apr 17, 2024 | 4:35 PM

Editor’s note: This story contains graphic details which may disturb some readers. Discretion is advised.

VANCOUVER — A full day of final submissions are on deck in the murder trial of a Nanaimo woman accused of the high-profile slaying of her former boyfriend.

Paris Jayanne Laroche, 28, pleaded not guilty to first degree murder and indignity to human remains after Sidney Josephe Mantee, 32, was gruesomely murdered in early March 2020.

Laroche admitted to undercover police and several witnesses to striking Mantee in the back of the head multiple times with sledgehammer at the Rosehill St. apartment they shared during an early morning ambush.

Evidence provided in court stated Laroche slit his throat, cut his body into small pieces, stored body parts in her fridge, then spread the remains throughout Nanaimo over the course of several months.

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At issue is whether Laroche’s actions were deemed to be reasonable in light of evidence presented throughout the trial of physical abuse by Mantee toward Laroche and her cat.

The trial resumed on Wednesday, April 17 in BC Supreme Court in Vancouver after the judge-alone proceedings were adjourned for two months.

Crown prosecutor Nick Barber concluded cross examination of a defence witness: University of Windsor sociology and criminology professor Dr. Amy Fitzgerald.

He unsuccessfully argued to have her evidence tossed out, arguing her research into roles pets play in intimate partner violence scenarios was flawed and not relevant to the trial.

“It’s just unclear what is the evidence of Dr. Fitzgerald being proposed for. Because it can’t be used to draw any kind of conclusion about what was happening, or any kind of inference, about what was happening in that apartment suite at the relevant time,” Barber said.

However, veteran BC Supreme Court Justice Robin Baird accepted Dr. Fitzgerald’s evidence, saying in his view it crosses the threshold of admissible opinion based evidence, but only to a specific degree.

Justice Baird said he accepts the doctor’s view suggesting violence and threats made by abusers against pets in intimate relationships could be perceived as what’s in store for a vulnerable partner.

“It is only to this extent that I’m prepared to admit the evidence of Dr. Fitzgerald and it marks the limit to which I would have allowed her to testify before a jury,” justice Baird said Wednesday afternoon.

The trial heard from a witness, who reported in about 2019, that he saw what appeared to be Laroche kicking a puppy.

Laroche did not testify at trial.

Her legal team includes high profile defence attorney Glen Orris, who contended earlier in the trial that evidence showed Larcohe was severely abused both physically and psychologically by Mantee and that him abusing one of her cats shortly before his death was “the last straw.”

Laroche was charged in March 2022, about 11 months after the trial heard Laroche confessed to a close friend, shifting the RCMP’s investigation from a missing person’s file to a homicide probe.

Laroche told undercover police she hit Mantee with the sledgehammer as he slept face-down on a living room mattress.

The trial relayed lengthy audio excerpts from an undercover police sting operation in which Laroche directed police to body parts of Mantee she placed throughout Nanaimo, including parks.

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes