Stanley Park seawall dog walker's killer pleads guilty to murder
Credit to Author: Keith Fraser| Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2019 01:16:14 +0000
A man who was criminally charged after a dog walker was found stabbed to death on the Stanley Park seawall pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of murder.
In January 2018, Tyler Anthony Lagimodiere, 29, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the slaying of Lubomir Kunik, 61.
Kunik, a dog walker, had been found on the seawall suffering from stab wounds around 11 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2017. He died later at the scene. Lagimodiere and Kunik did not know one another.
On Thursday, Lagimodiere made a brief appearance in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver to enter his plea to the lesser and included offence of second-degree murder.
Justice Mary Humphries confirmed with the accused that he had entered the plea voluntarily. The accused’s mother sat in the public gallery behind her son.
The judge ordered that a report into Lagimodiere’s aboriginal background be prepared for the sentencing hearing that is scheduled for Feb. 28 next year.
An agreed statement of facts was filed with the court but not read out during the proceedings. The full circumstances surrounding the offence will be revealed at the sentencing hearing. Lagimodiere’s trial had been set to begin in January.
Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with between 10 and 25 years of parole ineligibility. The main issue at sentencing will be how long Lagimodiere must wait before he can apply for parole.
The victim lived in the West End neighbourhood in Vancouver and was said to be an avid amateur photographer. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Kunik, known as “Bobor,” moved to Vancouver at a young age and was “moved by the beauty and freedom of nature,” according to a memorial posted on forevermissed.com
“Bobor took every moment to explore each acre of wilderness and climbed to every mountain top he could find. Setting a pace, and never giving up until he reached the top, he was built tough as a nail.”
He was also described on the memorial page as fiercely loyal and open-hearted.
Lagimodiere has a prior criminal record that includes being sentenced to two years in jail for his role in a violent robbery at a Maple Ridge home in 2007. Along with two other men, Lagimodiere broke into the house, beat the 23-year-old man inside and then made off with $90,000 and several kilograms of marijuana.
In 2017 he was convicted of stealing a car with an accomplice, the accomplice also being convicted of assaulting a police officer, and in 2012 he was convicted of uttering threats.
— With files from Tiffany Crawford
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