Life sentence for ex-employee in 'grisly murder' of Vancouver businessman
CTV
A man who murdered his former boss -- leaving the "lifeless body and the grisly murder scene" to be discovered by the victim's daughter at the family-run Vancouver business -- confessed to the crime voluntarily, a judge ruled.
A man who murdered his former employer, leaving his "lifeless body and the grisly murder scene" to be discovered by the victim's daughter at the family-run Vancouver business, confessed to the crime voluntarily, a judge ruled.
Brian Roger Holt was charged with second-degree murder in the 2019 slaying of 78-year-old John McIver. The BC Prosecution Service has confirmed he received an automatic life sentence with no eligibility for parole for 10 years.
The sentencing followed a guilty plea, entered on June 23 – the same day a judge ruled Holt's confession would be admissible during the trial.
While the sentencing decision is not yet publicly available, Justice Kathleen M. Ker's decision about the confession was posted online, shedding more light on both the crime and the investigation.
Holt, the court heard, had been an employee of McIver's Appliances in South Vancouver until 2015 – roughly four years prior to the killing.
"He did not leave on good terms. He believed he was owed significant overtime pay. By June 2019, Mr. Holt was experiencing significant financial difficulties and facing eviction from his apartment," Ker wrote.
Several weeks before McIver was found dead in his store, Holt had shown up at the McIver family home "out of the blue," Ker continued, explaining Holt told McIver he was looking to purchase appliances for a building he was managing. That building, McIver's daughter later found out, did not exist.
