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Coal Harbour murder: Life sentence with no parole eligibility for 20 years

Outside of Cardero's restaurant in Coal Harbour, Vancouver, B.C., Saturday, April 17, 2021 (Ryan Stelting). Outside of Cardero's restaurant in Coal Harbour, Vancouver, B.C., Saturday, April 17, 2021 (Ryan Stelting).
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A man who admitted to his role in a fatal shooting on a busy stretch of the Vancouver seawall has been sentenced to life in prison.

Francois Gauthier was initially charged with first-degree murder in the April 2020 shooting, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder.

A judge ruled that he will not be eligible for parole for 20 years.

Gauthier was 51 when Harpreet Singh Dhaliwal was shot in Coal Harbour in what police described as a "shocking and unnerving" targeted incident.

The 31-year-old victim, a resident of Abbotsford, was killed outside of Cardero's restaurant at a time when the seawall was busy with pedestrians.

Dhaliwal was known to police and his death was believed to be one of 15 gang-related murders that had been reported in the first four months of 2020.

With files from The Canadian Press

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