Man who killed Armstrong, B.C., woman gets life without parole for 17 years

VERNON, B.C. – The man who killed 18-year-old Taylor Van Diest from Armstrong, B.C., has been sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole for 17 years.

Thirty-two-year-old Matthew Foerster showed no emotion as a B.C. Supreme Court judge handed down the sentence on Tuesday.

Foerster pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this year in the death of the teenager on Halloween night in 2011.

Van Diest was found near death along some train tracks in Armstrong and died in hospital from what the trial heard was a severe beating with a flashlight.

Crown lawyer Chris McPherson says the judge agreed with a joint submission by the Crown and defence, which eliminates the chance of an appeal in the case.

The victim’s mother, Marie Van Diest, says the sentence isn’t very long, especially for someone who took a life so brutally.

(CKIZ)