Obnes Regis has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for the death and dismemberment of Naomi Onotera in the summer of 2021 in Langley City.
With time served, the 52-year-old will spend 12 years, one month, and 17 days in prison. He was arrested in December 2021.
The sentence was announced Tuesday in New Westminster Supreme Court.
Justice Martha Devlin sentenced Regis, Onoterasa国际传媒檚 common-law husband and the father of her young child, to 11 years for manslaughter and five years for indignity to human remains, to be served consecutively.
Devlin used words like sa国际传媒渕onstroussa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒渄epravedsa国际传媒� to describe Regissa国际传媒檚 attack and dismemberment of 40-year-old Onotera, which took place in the bathroom of their family home at 200 Street and 50 Avenue in August 2021.
The attack took place with their toddler nearby in her crib.
Devlin took into account the way Regis decided to do nothing to help her, or to not call 911, but waited to see whether she would come to.
After the death of Onotera, a teacher librarian, he gruesomely disposed of her body and spent months lying to her friends, family, and police.
sa国际传媒淢r. Regissa国际传媒檚 heartless deception persisted for months,sa国际传媒� said Devlin, in her ruling.
Outside the court, Onotera's sister, Kirsten Kerr, reacted to the sentence.
"It would never have been enough, nothing would ever have been enough for what he did," Kerr said. "He's a monster. It's horrific. And we just, we wanted more. I don't feel that justice was served for her."
Kerr was asked about finding out the details of how her sister died and how she was dismembered.
"What happened to my sister, I still can't process it, that somebody could do that," she said. "sa国际传媒t doesn't seem real."
His sentencing hearing started Monday, June 17, and continued Tuesday when his lawyer Gloria Ng said the manslaughter charge warranted five or six years but did not argue the Crown's request for the maximum five-year sentence for indignity to human remains.
Crown counsel Crichton Pike had recommended 14 for manslaughter and five for indignity to human remains. He cited evidence from undercover officers gained during a Mr. Big-type operation when Regis was in custody. Officers testified that he said that after he hit his wife, he left her on the bathroom floor for about an hour, waiting for her to die.
Ng argued that the evidence does not show that Regis left Onotera on the floor of their bathroom for up to an hour, waiting for her to die, after he punched and knocked her down during an argument. It previously came out in court that their infant was in a crib in the bathroom at the time. At the time, Devlin broke in to Ngsa国际传媒檚 arguments to note that there was no doubt about the fact that Regis reportedly said he made the decision not to call 911 after the attack.
sa国际传媒淗is actions were so beyond societal norms that some of his actions are still unimaginable,sa国际传媒� Pike said at the time.
He also urged Devlin not to believe any statements of remorse by Regis.
sa国际传媒淗e is an expert liar,sa国际传媒� Pike said at the June proceedings.
He noted that Regis lied to Maureen Onotera, Naomisa国际传媒檚 mother, while he was wearing a backpack that contained Naomisa国际传媒檚 bones, which he was shortly to dispose of. Regis pleaded guilty to manslaughter and indignity to human remains part way through his trial. After Onotera died, he dismembered her at the family home, and spread pieces around the region, including along the Fort to Fort Trail and the Fraser River.
His trial started in May 2024 and soon into the proceedings he changed his plea to guilty. On June 18, during the sentencing proceedings, Regis had a statement read out by his defence.
To the Honourable Court and the Onotera Family:
I am really, really sorry and I apologize with the worst remorse and regret I can express for what I did to Naomi.
I never had intention when we started an argument that it would lead to Naomi dying.
I was wrong to have turned to physical violence when I hit her. What happened next was terrible and graphic and there are no words that can ever make up for what happened.
I can only tell you that I felt desperate in that moment not wanting my daughter to grow up in foster care. I panicked and I reacted in the worst possible way. I was so, so, so very wrong and I can't take back what I did.
There's no way that I can go back in time but if I could I would have walked away. I am so sorry to Naomi, to her family, and to my family.
To my daughter:
I have failed you as a father but I hope that the good care and education me and your Mom gave you in the beginning will help you in your life.
It is my biggest regret and shame that I have caused you to grow up without your mother and now your father. I never wanted you to spend a day without your mother.
Words will never be enough to express how sorry I am to you. I don't deserve your forgiveness but I hope that my acceptance of responsibility can one day earn me a chance to be in your life. I'm doing my best to give you a future by showing you that I am taking responsibility for the wrongs I have done. I love you.
Obnes Regis
As one of Regissa国际传媒� lawyers read his statement, some of Onoterasa国际传媒檚 family in the court abruptly got up and left. Ten of Onotera's loved ones read victim impact statements in court June 17.
After he is released from prison, Regis will likely be deported to his native Haiti.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e just hoping and praying that he gets deported as soon as hesa国际传媒檚 out of jail," Kerr said outside the courthouse. sa国际传媒淪he should be seeing her daughter reach her milestones, go through life."
