WINNIPEG — A serial killer who was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in jail for killing two aboriginal women apologized to the victims’ families and blamed drugs for turning him into a “monster.”
Shawn Lamb, who was originally charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of Carolyn Sinclair and Lorna Blacksmith, pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in a Winnipeg courtroom.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Rick Saull agreed to accept the 20 years sentence that was recommended by both the Crown and defence. Lamb, who is 54, can apply for parole in nine years.
“He may never see the outside of a prison,” Saull said in his judgement. “A lengthy, expensive trial would require the families to endure another year or two of anguish with the very real possibility of an acquittal.”
The families of the two women sobbed as the Crown read out the gruesome facts of the case. Many left or were escorted out by security after yelling and swearing at Lamb.
“I can stand here for whatever life I have left to live and apologize. It’s not going to do any good,” Lamb told the court. “An apology is nothing. It doesn’t change what happened . . . I did the best that I could do to try to help the families have some answers, some closure. It’s just a terrible thing.”
Amanda Sinclair, Carolyn’s sister, agreed the apology meant nothing.
“It was just like sticking a knife in my back,” she said. “This was just as painful as having to sit through a trial.”