# Source note: R. v. Laroche / Heather J. Holmes

Reviewed and published September 20, 2026.

## Verified primary record and judicial identity

Official reasons: https://www.bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/sc/20/19/2020BCSC1930.htm

R. v. Laroche, 2020 BCSC 1930, oral reasons for sentence, November 17, 2020, Vancouver registry 31109-2. The heading and signature identify The Honourable Associate Chief Justice H. Holmes. The B.C. Supreme Court's June 22, 2018 announcement verifies the full name Heather J. Holmes and the associate chief justice role:
https://www.bccourts.ca/supreme_court/archived_announcements/2018/Apr_Jun_18.aspx

Existing profile ID bc-sc-heather-j-holmes is reused. This review verifies the historical sentencing identity and role, not present office/status. No portrait is reproduced.

## Paragraph-backed findings

- Paragraph 1: guilty plea to manslaughter; joint Crown/defence proposal of ten years less custody credit.
- Paragraph 3: Vicki Black was killed March 4, 1993, aged 23. Graphic particulars and unnecessary family details are omitted.
- Paragraphs 9–14: profound effects on the victim, those close to her and the community.
- Paragraph 19: a later September 1996 killing in Manitoba and 1997 second-degree-murder conviction; the court treated Laroche as a first-time offender for this sentencing. The article explains the offence chronology (the 1993 offence came first), without implying that the other conviction did not exist or expanding the paragraph into a general doctrinal rule.
- Paragraphs 20–21: day parole December 2005; full parole January 2008; suspension September 2009; full parole again early January 2014. These periods preclude describing imprisonment as continuous since 1997.
- Paragraphs 25–26: brutality, victim vulnerability and treatment of her body were aggravating; relative youth and no record at the time, the plea, responsibility and remorse were mitigating findings.
- Paragraphs 27–29: the Anthony-Cook public-interest/disrepute test for a joint sentencing submission; the judge found the proposal appropriate.
- Paragraphs 31–32: ten years imposed; 425 days of credit, expressed by the court as 14 months; eight years and ten months remaining. The two credit components were 126 days at 1.5 (189 days) and 236 days at one for one.
- Paragraphs 34–35: firearms prohibitions and DNA-sample order.

## Publication-ban review and limits

No publication-ban notice or anonymity direction appears in the published official reasons reviewed. Targeted searches for Laroche/Vicki Black and publication bans did not establish a case-specific restriction. This is not proof that no restriction exists elsewhere in the file. No case-specific order or registry clearance was obtained; no registry inquiry or outreach was made.

The court's guidance explains that some restrictions operate automatically and directs inquiries about individual proceedings to the relevant registry:
https://www.bccourts.ca/supreme_court/publication_bans/

The article uses published reasons and attributed official/news reports; exhibits and additional private identities are not reproduced. CanLII extraction was denied access, but the official court's full reasons were accessible and reviewed.

## Lead and separately attributed death update

Lead: https://www.facebook.com/share/1Jm7MVhfL6/?mibextid=wwXIfr
The Facebook card is a discovery lead, not independent proof of the sentencing facts.

CSC: https://www.canada.ca/en/correctional-service/news/2026/09/death-of-an-inmate-from-mission-institution.html
The visible September 16, 2026 release says Steven Laroche died in custody on September 11, aged 58, while serving a life sentence that commenced December 19, 1997. It states CSC's coroner-notification policy. It does not identify the cause of death in the visible narrative. The structured-data description and hidden teaser say 'apparent natural causes'; that metadata wording is not a final coroner finding.

CTV: https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/man-who-was-arrested-26-years-after-killing-vancouver-sex-worker-dies-in-prison/
CTV's articleBody was read from the report's structured data. CTV reports CSC email confirmation linking the deceased man to the November 17, 2020 sentence of eight years and ten months for manslaughter. That linkage is attributed to CTV's reporting, not to wording in CSC's public release. CTV says CSC did not specify the cause of death; the article transparently distinguishes that report from CSC page metadata.

## Editorial boundaries

This is a historical judicial sentencing source trail, not a finding or allegation of judicial misconduct, custodial neglect or causation of death. The Manitoba life sentence and the 2020 manslaughter sentence are distinct. No final coroner finding is claimed. Unnecessary medical history, graphic crime details, private family information and unverified photographs are excluded.