‘Your own life has been forever changed:’ Alberta man sentenced in triple murder

Austin Vielle pleaded guilty to second-degree murder (Pixabay photo)

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — A man who admitted he killed three people in southern Alberta by stabbing them hundreds of times has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance at parole for 20 years.

Austin Vielle pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Monday on what was supposed to be the first day of his first-degree murder trial in Lethbridge, Alta.

Court heard five knives and a meat cleaver were found at the townhouse in April 2015.

An agreed statement of facts said the victims were stabbed a total of 244 times.

In handing down the sentence, Justice Rodney Jerke said those facts tell a “difficult, brutal and tragic story.”

The judge also told Vielle, who is 24, that his “frenzy of violence” will leave a permanent mark on him.

“Your own life has been forever changed,” Jerke told Vielle Tuesday.

Vielle was charged after Kyle Devine, 27, Clarissa English, 24, and her 18-year-old brother Dakota were found dead in the townhouse.

Laurie English, mother of Clarissa and Dakota English, spoke directly to Vielle as she gave her victim impact statement on Monday.

“You have brought complete tragedy to our lives,” she said. “I now know what hate means. I feel no compassion for you at all. You’ve destroyed more than half of my heart and my soul.”

Vielle declined to address the court or the families of his victims on Monday, but said in a statement read by his lawyer that he was sorry.

“I don’t remember what happened. I’m sorry for bringing this pain on you and your family,” he said.

“They were my friends. I wish this didn’t happen. I hope in the future there can be some kind of reconciliation but I know this will be very difficult.”

The statement of facts said all three victims were heavily intoxicated at the time.

It said Dakota English was stabbed 57 times, Devine had 84 cuts and stab wounds and Clarissa English was stabbed 103 times. Many of the wounds were to the faces, necks and upper bodies of all three.

Court heard Vielle was intoxicated when he committed the murders.

He was arrested nearly two weeks after the bodies were found. He was described as a friend to all three.

Police said at the time that they believed Vielle had spent time with them in the hours prior to their deaths.