Convicted child killer David Carl Sunshine sentenced to 15 years in jail
Posted April 14, 2010 12:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It’s 15 years in prison for convicted child killer David Carl Sunshine. The 25-year-old Vancouver man was convicted of second-degree murder in the beating death of his two-year-old stepdaughter Rose in 2005.
The Crown called it torture. Evidence presented by the Crown’s Elliot Poll shows David Carl Sunshine beat Rose up to 25 times over four to five months, and sometimes burned her with a lighter. “I described the beating and the injuries inflicted on Rose as torture.”
The Crown says Sunshine confessed to an undercover officer that he attacked Rose because he was jealous of her biological father. Poll says there was no evidence Rose complained of the horrific injuries that killed her. “Again we can only imagine why that might be. One of the things that occurs to me is out of complete and total fear of him.”
On the night of the murder, Rose and her family had just returned from a Christmas party. Poll says Sunshine confessed to an undercover officer that he would wrap his hand in towels or put a pillow over Rose so he would leave no evidence of his beatings.
The Crown had asked for between 15 to 20 years before parole ineligibility, while the defence wanted 10 to 12 years. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elliott Myers said the seriousness of the offence required a sentence in the higher range. Outside the courtroom, Rose’s mother said she wanted Sunshine to get the maximum sentence.
