KATHY MICHAELS
Black Press
Taylor Van Diest’s family let out muffled sobs of relief Saturday morning as a jury of 12 convicted Matthew Foerster of first degree murder.
The five-woman, seven-man pool of jurors returned to a Kelowna courtroom with the unanimous decision after just over 24 hours of deliberation.
To have reached that verdict they had to conclude that Foerster, 28, was intending to sexually assault Van Diest, 18, when he fatally injured her on a set of secluded train tracks Oct. 31, 2011 in Armstrong.
When Foerster was asked by Justice Peter Rogers if he had anything to say following the jury’s decision, defence lawyer Lisa Helps declined on behalf of her client.
Throughout those final moments Foerster, in a pressed dress shirt and tie, stared ahead in the same manner he spent the entirety of the two-week trial — appearing to be on the brink of some emotional outbreak that never materialized.
He will face 25 years in jail without possibility of parole — the minimum sentence for the crime for which he was convicted. more
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