FOG BLOG NB JUSTICE LOG: NB MAN SENTENCED TO LIFE IN THE MURDER OF ELIAS BASTARACHE!

Kent County man sentenced for 2020 murder of Elias Bastarache.....A 35-year-old from Saint-Édouard-de-Kent has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years for killing Elias Bastarache with a pipe wrench two years ago.

Marcel Roger Savoie pleaded guilty last November to second-degree murder and was sentenced Monday in Moncton.

Bastarache, 67, was killed outside his home off Route 515 in Sainte-Marie-de-Kent on Feb. 20, 2020.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Jean-Paul Ouellette called it an unprovoked attack and said photos of the scene were disturbing.

Crown prosecutor Mélanie Poirier-LeBlanc read an agreed statement of facts to the judge, outlining how, on the day of the murder, Savoie had heard Bastarache had assaulted a woman at a special care home in Bouctouche. Savoie asked around in the community to find out where Bastarache lived and went there with a friend.

Savoie got out of his truck with a pipe wrench. Bastarache pushed Savoie two or three times. Savoie pushed Bastarache to the ground and then hit his knees, back and head repeatedly with the wrench. He left the scene and hid the murder weapon.

Poirier-LeBlanc called Savoie's actions a "brutal" crime.

Bastarache's remains were found outside his home the following day by his sister Rita Cormier.

Cormier provided a victim impact statement, but it wasn't read out loud in the courtroom.

The judge said after reading the statement, "I could understand the pain she experienced."