B.C. dad who killed daughters on Christmas loses bid for earlier parole eligibility

Andrew Berry was convicted of killing his two daughters on Christmas Day 2017.

Warning: This story contains disturbing details.

A B.C. father who notoriously murdered his two young daughters on Christmas Day 2017 has lost his bid for earlier parole eligibility.

In a decision issued Friday, the province’s highest court found Andrew Berry’s sentence – mandatory life in prison, with no chance of parole for 22 years – was appropriate given his “extremely high” moral culpability in the crime.

“The law requires that emphasis be given to denunciation and deterrence,” wrote Justice Elizabeth Bennett, on behalf of a three-judge B.C. Court of Appeal panel.

“It also requires that a sentence be proportionate and reflect the moral blameworthiness of the offender.”

Berry had argued the trial judge misconstrued his motive during his 2019 sentencing, and didn’t properly account for the jury’s non-binding recommendations.

‘Overwhelming evidence’ for motive

The court heard Berry stabbed his daughters – four-year-old Aubrey and six-year-old Chloe – dozens of times, hours before he was supposed to turn them over to their mother, Sarah Cotton, with whom he had an acrimonious relationship. He then tried to take his own life.

The sentencing judge concluded Berry had killed the children to “inflict the ultimate pain” on Cotton, and to prevent her from having the girls after he was gone, finding him “vengeful to an inordinate degree.”

Berry denied he was motivated by spite, pointing to a suicide note he wrote prior to the murders that suggested he initially planned on sparing their daughters.

But the Court of Appeal panel was not convinced, citing “overwhelming evidence” of Berry’s bitter resentment for Cotton, including years of complaints he’d made to friends and colleagues.

Bennett noted the killer also expressed that resentment in his suicide note, and continued to do so after killing Aubrey and Chloe.

‘Constitutionally sound’ sentence

Berry suggested as well that he should receive a softer sentence, based on the recommendations of the jury.

Two of the jurors recommended Berry serve 10 years without parole eligibility, while six recommended he serve 15 years twice, consecutively – for a minimum of 30 years without parole.

At the time, consecutive periods of parole ineligibility were allowed in cases involving multiple murders. They have since been found unconstitutional.

Berry argued if that option had been unavailable at the time of his 2019 trial, some jurors would have recommended he serve 15 years concurrently, creating a different range of recommendations that could have affected the judge’s decision.

The Court of Appeal found that to be “pure speculation.”

“Had the jury not been advised that the sentences could be consecutive, they may have recommended 25 years,” Bennett wrote. “It matters not. The judge imposed a sentence that was constitutionally sound.”

The justice opined that 22 years without parole eligibility was “at the high end of the range,” but not unfit for Berry’s crime.

“The murder of Chloe and Aubrey was violent and brutal, in their beds on Christmas morning. What was to be a time of joy turned into an endless nightmare for Ms. Cotton and many others,” Bennett wrote.

“He was motivated, at least in part, by a desire to hurt Ms. Cotton. He did so in the worst possible way.”

The court dismissed Berry’s appeal.