Killer sentenced for 2022 murder in Fort St. James, B.C.

The RCMP logo is seen outside the force's 'E' division headquarters in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)

A man who pleaded guilty to a 2022 murder in Fort St. James, B.C., has been sentenced.

Thomas Duncan, now 33, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 36-year-old John Lazarre, Fort St. James RCMP said in a news release Friday.

Lazarre was found dead on Feb. 25, 2022, when police responded to a “shots fired” call on Spruce Road in the small community roughly 100 kilometres northwest of Prince George.

Duncan was sentenced on Dec. 3 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years, according to police.

Life in prison is the automatic sentence in all murder convictions in Canada. The question judges must decide when sentencing is when parole eligibility should begin, with 10 years the minimum and 25 the maximum.