Man sentenced to 10 years in prison following guilty pleas in killing of New Westminster woman

New Westminster, B.C. -

Warning: Disturbing content

Guilty pleas were entered in New Westminster court Tuesday morning in connection with the death of a local woman whose burned body was found in a Burnaby park last year.

Carlo Tobias pleaded guilty to manslaughter and accessory after the fact. The 22-year-old was originally charged with first-degree murder and indignity to human remains, along with a 15-year-old who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Tobias was also charged with sexual interference of a minor.

Investigators believed the victim, 49-year-old Ma Cecillia Loreto, was killed in her New Westminster home on March 17, 2021. Her burned body was found the next day at Greentree Village Park in Burnaby. At the time the charges were laid, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said the two accused and the victim knew each other, but would not elaborate on the details of that connection.

According to an agreed statement of facts read by prosecutor Jay Fogel, the court heard on the day Loreto was killed, Tobias punched her in the face in her home, rendering her unconscious, but said he did not take part in stabbing Loreto afterwards.

“These stab wounds caused Ma Loreto’s death,” Fogel read to the court. “Mr. Tobias did not participate in the stabbing, his involvement in the killing was limited to this punch.”

The court heard Loreto’s body was wrapped in a blanket and tape, and was then taken to the park and set on fire, resulting in such significant burns a definitive cause of death could not be determined by a pathologist.

Fogel said Tobias turned himself in to police in the days following the killing. He told the court the fact Loreto was killed in her own home is an aggravating factor, while mitigating factors include Tobias’s lack of a criminal record and early guilty plea.

Defence lawyer Matthew Nathanson addressed the court by video. He told the court Tobias would not be speaking, but wanted to convey “sincere remorse for his actions”. 

Loreto had recently moved to Canada from the Philippines, and worked at an East Vancouver grocery store before her death. Friends described her as caring and full of life. She was also a vocalist in a cover band, and volunteered and performed at local events.

The court heard victim impact statements from Loreto’s loved ones, including her brother, who said his sister was hardworking and patient, and a great mother.

“Our family has been destroyed,” he said. “Our dreams have been shattered.” 

The Crown and defence made a joint sentencing submission of 10 years, which was accepted by the judge: eight years for the manslaughter charge, and two years for the accessory charge. With credit for time already spent in custody, the proposed sentence would total 8.5 years.

In sentencing, Judge Peter La Prairie called what happened to Loreto “a senseless crime."

Speaking to media outside court, Fogel said the Crown believes the sentence is fit.

“Murder requires the subjective intent to kill. And so in the absence of that evidence, a murder charge cannot be supported,” he said. “As was eloquently stated in the victim impact statements, no sentence could bring back Ma Loreto. Nothing that the court can do can reverse the tragedy of her death…the Crown can only proceed on evidence that’s available to it.”

The youth charged in connection with Loreto’s death has a scheduled court date at the end of the month.