B.C. woman admitted to killing and dismembering boyfriend, her former boss tells court

Warning: This story contains disturbing details.

The former boss of a Nanaimo, B.C., woman accused of killing her boyfriend and dismembering his body says the employee admitted to the crime over a phone call.

Paris Laroche, now 28, is standing trial for first-degree murder, as well as interference with a dead body.

The charges stemmed from a two-year investigation into the disappearance and death of her now-ex-boyfriend, 33-year-old Sidney Mantee.

Under direct examination Tuesday, Terry Lynn Boyle, the owner of the Amethyst Forest in Nanaimo, told the court that she hired Laroche in October of 2020, and that the two became close.

Before she was officially charged in March of 2022, Laroche was first arrested in May of 2021, but was released the next day.

Boyle, who often fought through tears Tuesday, says she and Laroche spoke on the phone after her release.

“I came right out and asked her if she had done it,” Boyle said.

“And she said yes.”

Boyle said Laroche told her that Mantee had threatened to kill her friends and family, and that he had thrown her cat against the wall.

She testified that Laroche told her she climbed on top of Mantee and struck him with a hammer. Laroche said she just wanted him “to go to sleep,” according to Boyle.

On the opening day of the trial Monday, the court heard that at least 14 of Mantee’s bone fragments had been found at two different city parks.

Boyle said that Laroche told her she had chopped up Mantee’s body and kept it in the fridge of their apartment, periodically disposing of it between March and August in 2020.

One of Laroche’s lawyers, Glen Orris, highlighted the fact that Boyle had told police she believed Laroche was in an abusive relationship.

Laroche has pleaded not-guilty to both charges against her.

The trial is scheduled to last 20 days in Vancouver Supreme Court.

Justice Robin Baird will ultimately decide Laroche’s fate.