A violent offender who beat his girlfriend to death in East Vancouver will have to serve 21 years of his life sentence before he is eligible for parole.
Daniel Alphonse Paul, who has a history of violence against women, was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2015 death of Crystal Rose Paull, a mother of five and a grandmother.
The conviction comes with an automatic life sentence, but the court decided Friday how much of that sentence Paul will have to serve before he can apply for parole.
During a hearing on Monday, Crown lawyers asked that Paul spend between 20 and 25 years in prison before he is eligible to apply for parole. The defence argued for 15 years.
The victim's family said they are happy with Friday’s decision.
"Our family can start to heal all the hearts that shattered through this whole ordeal," said Charles Paull, Crystal’s older brother. "It's been years of waiting just to hear those words. This whole ordeal has been really trying on our family."
He added that he doesn't believe Paul feels any remorse for the crime and that this day should have come sooner.
"(Paul) has hurt many women over his life and the system failed many, many times," he said.
Outside the courthouse, relatives shared fond memories of the victim.
"We loved her. She was so kind. She was real soft-hearted and there's not a bad thing you could say about her. She would be helpful for anybody," said Irene Smith, Paull's aunt.
During trial, the court heard that Paul lived with the decomposing body of his victim for weeks before she was found.
The court also heard that Paul contacted other women within hours of killing his girlfriend, used her bank card and lied to one of her children about her whereabouts.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Maria Weisgarber
