B.C. man who killed 15-year-old girl at Sask. farm gets life sentence for manslaughter
A British Columbia man who killed a teen girl has been sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 10 years.
Eduard Viktorovit Baranec killed 15-year-old Katelyn Marie Noble in August 2007.
He slit her throat in the bushes of a farm in Raddison, Sask., according to an agreed statement of facts.
He was sentenced on Friday afternoon in a joint submission at Saskatoon’s Court of Queen’s Bench.
Baranec was charged with first-degree murder, but pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
“In order to bring finality and certainty to the family, we decided to accept the lesser included offence of manslaughter,” Crown prosecutor Jennifer Claxton-Viczco said.
Baranec met Noble through her then 35-year-old boyfriend, Greg Friend.
Friend and Baranec ran a marijuana grow-op together in Raddison.
Noble moved to the Raddison grow-op from B.C.
Court heard Baranec thought the grow-op was going “sour” and Baranec believed Noble and Friend were “going against him.”
Baranec killed Noble because she was getting too involved with the grow-op, according to a Dec. 3, 2010 confession Baranec made to undercover police officers.
Baranec also hired two hitmen to kill Friend, but it was unsuccessful, according to the agreed statement of facts.
Baranec was part of a Mr. Big sting — an undercover police tactic where officers pose as criminals to elicit a confession from a suspect.
Baranec told the undercover officers he had his pistol ready to go but decided to use the knife because he didn’t have a silencer.
He demonstrated to undercover police how he did it and admitted that he put his hand over her mouth right before he killed her.
Court heard, the evening of the killing, Baranec moved Noble’s body from the bushes to a pre-dug hole on his farm.
After hearing police were searching his property, Baranec dug up Noble’s body, moved her to a remote location and re-buried her.
Noble was reported missing by her family in B.C. The last time she called her mother was August 16, 2007.
Noble’s mother, Leona Noble, travelled from B.C. to address her daughter’s killer.
“You ruined Katelyn’s life, and you ruined your own life by killing her,” Leona said, while looking at Baranec.
Leona said her daughter got involved with the wrong group of people, but believed she had a bright future.
“I did have a lot of faith in her. I do believe she could have gone a long way in her life, and there was a lot of things she wanted to do in her life,” Leona told reporters outside of court.
Noble’s remains have never been found.
Defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle said Baranec would be willing to show investigators to the body, but Baranec can’t find it.
Leona believes Noble is in the Mayfair, Sask. area and urges farmers to be on the lookout so she can bring her daughter home.
Baranec is currently serving a life sentence for a brutal murder in February 2007. Amanpreet Bahia was found stabbed, in a pool of blood with her one-year-old daughter crying next to her.
Baranec was hired as a hitman, by Bahia’s husband, to carry out the killing.
The Noble investigation helped police crack the Bahia case.
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