Killer of Stanley Park photographer sentenced to life in prison with no parole for 14 years
Tyler Anthony Lagimodiere pleaded guilty after the 2017 death of Lubomir Kunik
The man who stabbed an amateur photographer to death on the Stanley Park seawall five years ago has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 14 years.
Tyler Anthony Lagimodiere, 33, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the Feb. 1, 2017 death of Lubomir Kunik. He received his sentence in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday, according to Vancouver police.
Kunik was 61 years old, an avid nature photographer, and a complete stranger to Lagimodiere when he died.
The court heard that Lagimodiere told one undercover officer that he spent weeks thinking about murder before walking to the seawall between Second Beach and Third Beach, where he waited with a hidden machete for "a random guy to walk by."
He attacked Kunik from behind as he walked along the waterfront. Kunik died after being cut or stabbed 67 times, according to an agreed statement of facts read aloud in court.
Lagimodiere was arrested and charged with the murder on Jan. 8, 2018, after a six-month "Mr. Big" undercover operation by Vancouver police.
Two days after Kunik was killed, police officers found a black machete and its sheath between the shoreline and the Second Beach Pool. Kunik's DNA was found on the blade.
Police matched Lagimodiere to DNA on a rope wrapped around the machete's handle. Court documents said Lagimodiere's DNA had been on file since 2009, when he submitted a sample as part of his sentence in a violent home invasion.
Lagimodiere later described his motive and the killing to an undercover officer, saying he'd grown "tired" of the voices in his head after they started five years prior, according to the statement of facts.
After killing Kunik, Lagimodiere said he went home and had a beer.
Kunik, known as "Lubo" or "Bobor" among friends, was born in Slovakia and moved to Vancouver when he was 39. Friends say he was passionate about photography and may have been in the park the night of his death to take pictures of the night sky.
Second-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.
With files from Rhianna Schmunk, Bethany Lindsay and Meera Bains