Guilty plea entered in deadly Vancouver home invasion

Guilty plea in deadly home invasion A man who impersonated a police officer to gain entry into an elderly Vancouver woman’s house has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The second of two men charged in the death of a Vancouver senior during a 2021 home invasion has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Pascal Bouthillete admitted his role in the crime in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Monday.

Bouthillete was initially charged with first-degree murder after 78-year-old Usha Singh was found severely injured in her home on Jan. 31, 2021, and later died.

Co-accused Sandy Jack Parisian was sentenced last month to seven years in prison for his role in the crime after he too pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Home security video shown during Parisian's sentencing showed the two men dressed as police officers as they approached Singh's door and entered the home just before 6 a.m.

Another security camera inside the home captured the men looking around her living room before Parisian noticed the camera and turned it away.

The court heard that Singh, who lived alone in the Little Mountain neighbourhood, was found on her bathroom floor with two black eyes and a bloody face later that day. She died in hospital two days later.

With credit for time already served in custody, Parisian is expected to spend another four years behind bars.

The judge will hear an agreed-upon statement of facts and a joint sentencing submission on Friday. Ultimately it is up to the judge to decide how long Bouthillete will spend in prison. There is no mandatory minimum in this case – and the maximum sentence for manslaughter in Canada is life in prison.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Shannon Paterson, Andrew Weichel and Ben Nesbit