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WARNING: This story contains graphic details of a homicide. <\/p>\n
A judge has sentenced a man to life in prison, with no chance of parole for the next 11 years, in the 2024 killing of Alexander Lo, the brother of Kai-Ji Adam Lo who is accused of the Lapu-Lapu Day alleged car-ramming attack that killed 11 people.<\/p>\n
Forty-one-year-old Dwight Kematch pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in July and in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Friday, he acknowledged the \u201cripple effect\u201d that the murder had on Lo\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n
Kai-Ji Adam Lo listened to the sentencing virtually, from a forensic hospital, according to Crown prosecutor Mark Myhre. The case of the alleged Lapu-Lapu Day attack has not yet been heard in court.<\/p>\n
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Kematch and Lo met through the dating app Grindr, the court heard. (CBC)<\/p>\n
Kematch and Lo met through the dating app Grindr, according to the agreed statement of facts read out in court.<\/p>\n
The two met at Kematch\u2019s Vancouver house after midnight on Jan. 28, 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The court heard that the pair went to Kematch\u2019s room and started to have sex.<\/p>\n
But \u201csomething set Kematch off,\u201d according to the statement of facts, and Kematch, who was drunk, began assaulting Lo first with his fists, then with a hammer and later with a knife.<\/p>\n
Lo\u2019s roommates, his sister and brother-in-law, heard Lo yelling for help.<\/p>\n
Kematch stopped only when his brother-in-law yelled to call the cops.<\/p>\n
Police arrested Kematch, but Lo was unconscious and life-saving efforts were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
Life sentence mandatory<\/p>\n
Myhre told the court Lo was vulnerable as a smaller man and described the offence as \u201cabsolutely brutal.”<\/p>\n
He said Kematch had a \u201cgolden opportunity” to stop attacking Lo when his brother-in-law intervened and took away one of the weapons.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did not do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A life sentence is mandatory if a person is convicted of second-degree murder. (CBC)<\/p>\n
In a joint sentencing submission, Myhre and defence lawyer Jim Heller called for a life sentence, which is mandatory for second-degree murder, with a chance for parole after 13 years minus time served.<\/p>\n
Myhre said Kematch has a criminal record prior to 2004, including two convictions for killing and injuring an animal and arson.<\/p>\n
Defence lawyer Jim Heller said Kematch\u2019s life had been filled with tragedy and trauma, including physical and sexual abuse, deaths in the family and abandonment, in part due to the effects of colonization of Indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n
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Court heard that Kematch had a criminal record prior to the homicide. (Ben Nelms\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Justice F. Matthew Kirchner agreed the proposed sentence was appropriate.<\/p>\n
He described Kematch\u2019s attack on Lo as \u201ctruly horrifying\u201d but added there are aspects of Kematch\u2019s work while incarcerated that show signs of humanity and hope for rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
\u2018Unbearable pain\u2019: victim\u2019s mother<\/p>\n
Lo\u2019s mother, Lisa, said her son\u2019s killing caused her physical and emotional trauma, according to a victim impact statement read out by Myhre.<\/p>\n
She raised her two children as a single mom after her husband died in 2001, but after Lo\u2019s death she attempted suicide and was hospitalized for three weeks.<\/p>\n
Her statement said her younger son stayed by her side “day and night\u201d and brought friends and family.<\/p>\n
Lisa was diagnosed with depression and has been unable to work, which has caused financial challenges, it continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI walked around as if everything in my life had collapsed \u2026 I am in unbearable pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the offender\u2019s actions, our family has been plunged into endless sorrow.”<\/p>\n
Lo\u2019s friend, Richard Hesketh, addressed Kematch in the courtroom.<\/p>\n
Hesketh said Lo, who studied makeup and special effects, was kind and full of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlex was good energy. He lit up a room when he entered it. His smile was contagious and he valued his friends greatly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lo\u2019s murder has had a catastrophic impact, Hesketh said.<\/p>\n
The judge added Kematch\u2019s sister and brother-in-law expressed their world had been shattered by the incident.<\/p>\n
Kematch apologizes<\/p>\n
Kematch described his life up to January 2024 as a \u201cmix of alcoholism and self-hate\u201d and acknowledged he was responsible for the violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stole a son from a beloved mother and a caring brother,\u201d Kematch said, reading off a handwritten paper.<\/p>\n