A Kelowna man who pleaded guilty to killing his wife and two daughters will learn his fate later this month.
Jacob Forman is expected to be in the BC Supreme Court in Kelowna on Sept. 16 for the beginning of his sentencing hearing.
On Tuesday, when the trial began and Forman was asked how he pleaded, he told the judge: “I am responsible, but I’m not guilty of what the Crown is saying.”
In a surprising development two days later, Forman pleaded guilty to the first-degree murders of Karina, 8, and Yesenia, 7, and the second-degree murder of his wife Clara.
READ MORE: Kelowna father pleads guilty to triple murder of daughters, wife
During the upcoming hearing, Crown and Defense will both enter agreed statements of facts, as well as sentencing recommendations.
First-degree murder carries a sentence of no parole for 25 years. Conviction for second-degree murder means no parole for anywhere between 10 to 25 years, determined by the preciding judge.
Police were called to the Formans’ home in Rutland on the evening of Dec. 19, 2017, after Clara’s friends became concerned about her welfare. Forman was arrested shortly after.
His defense lawyer Ramond Dieno told reporters that Forman had been struggling with alcoholism, and was going through withdrawals when he killed his family.
“He was actually in a process of withdrawal. He was of the view that he was not helping his family by being so alcoholic,” Dieno said.
“He wanted to withdraw, but he tried to withdraw without support or treatment, and that obviously led to devastating consequences.”
Crown counsel is expected to be asking for consecutive sentences, while defense will ask for a concurrent sentence.
@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
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