WARNING: This article contains graphic details of an alleged murder and is not suitable for all readers.
A Nanaimo woman unwittingly told police she used a knife, hammers and saws to kill and dispose of her ex-boyfriend, testimony in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver revealed this morning.
Paris Jayanne Laroche, 28, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and interference with a dead body in relation to the case of ex-boyfriend Sidney Joseph Mantee, who was 32 when he was reported missing.
The trial was in its fifth day Friday, Jan. 26, with an undercover investigator on the stand and audio from the investigation played for the court.
The officer, who can’t be named due to a publication ban, was able to gain Laroche’s trust. The officer told Sabrina Avery, co-Crown counsel, that Laroche seemed “stand-offish” initially, but eventually detailed Mantee’s murder and how she cut up his body and disposed of it in various water bodies across Nanaimo.
Laroche handed a number of items to investigators in the April 2021 covert operation at her Rosehill Street apartment. A hammer was among the items, which, Laroche told the officer, was used to strike Mantee in the head. Two saws were said to have been used to cut up Mantee’s body, the investigator recounted, and a sledgehammer was said to have been used to break up Mantee’s skull and larger pieces of bone. A knife allegedly used to slash Mantee’s throat was also given to undercover police, the officer testified.
Laroche told the undercover officer that she kept Mantee’s bones in her refrigerator after murdering and dismembering him, according to testimony.
The officer recounted that Laroche showed officers where she said she disposed of Mantee’s body, at Pipers Lagoon, Neck Point Park, Diver Lake and a pier on Newcastle Avenue.
Testimony has concluded for the week and will resume Monday, Jan. 29. The trial is scheduled to last 20 days.
The trial had to be relocated to Vancouver as there weren’t appropriate facilities to house Laroche in Nanaimo.
Along with Avery, Nick Barber is representing Crown counsel, while Glen Orris and Robyn Young are Laroche’s legal representatives. Justice Robin Baird is presiding over the trial.
RELATED: Nanaimo woman accused of murder, dismemberment on trial
RELATED: RCMP seek Nanaimo man who hasn’t contacted family in months