A 60-year-old Burnaby man convicted of attempted murder for shooting his brother and sister-in-law with a shotgun two years ago should spend between 14 and 16 years in jail, according to a Crown prosecutor.
Double shooting
A B.C. Supreme Court jury found Dominic Botticelli guilty in December of two counts of attempted murder.
The charges date back to a double shooting on May 11, 2017 at his mother’s house on Broadway near Kingsford Avenue, where he had been living.
His brother, Tony Botticelli and Tony’s wife, Candace had come over to visit his mother for Mother’s Day, the court heard.
A confrontation ensued over frequent angry outbursts Dominic Botticelli had been having, during which he sometimes broke things at his mother’s house.
His brother asked him to leave.
The confrontation culminated at about 5 p.m., with Dominic Botticelli, Candace and Tony outside by a set of stairs, according to Candace’s testimony.
Tony prevented his brother from going back up, the court heard, and Dominic Botticelli then went into the garage, came out with a shotgun and shot Candace.
When Tony went to her aid, his brother shot him at close range.
Dominic Botticelli then left in his SUV, according to the couple’s testimony.
‘Life-altering injuries’
Burnaby RCMP arrived to find the couple in front of the open garage with serious injuries.
Police shut down a section of Broadway and searched the area with dogs, but Botticelli was located and arrested at about 10 p.m. in another neighbourhood – in the 4400 block of Albert Street, according to a police press release at the time.
A search of his room at his mother’s house revealed two handguns with oversized magazines and silencers, for which Botticelli had no licence.
Botticelli maintained his innocence throughout the trial, testifying he had left the house shortly after he was asked to leave.
The jury, however, found him guilty on two counts of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault and a number of weapons charges.
At a sentencing hearing before Justice Kenneth Ball Monday, Crown prosecutor Brendan McCabe said Candace and Tony Botticelli sustained “catastrophic, life-altering injuries” and were hospitalized for months after the shooting.
“It’s almost beyond words what these people have gone through,” he said.
In victim impacts statements, the couple highlighted how troubled they are that Dominic Botticelli has continued to deny his actions and shown no remorse.
“He has no care for the amount of damage he’s done to his very family, to his mother, his brother and even his son,” Candace wrote in her statement. “If he doesn’t have any remorse, how can we not be fearful that he wouldn’t hurt again? If he has such little regard for his immediate family, what about the safety of extended family, friends and even strangers.”
Angry outbursts
McCabe called for a jail sentence of between 14 and 16 years, noting Dominic Botticelli’s lack of remorse and the devastating injuries he inflicted on his victims.
Defence lawyer Sandy Ross, however, recommended a jail sentence between eight and nine years, arguing the shooting had been a spontaneous act involving no planning and deliberation.
Ross said Botticelli had grown angry and frustrated over about 15 years of trying to reconnect with a son, born in 2000.
Ross said Botticelli’s life had been “almost completely consumed” with efforts to find him and bring him back to Canada after the boy’s mother abducted him and took him to Italy.
Botticelli’s frustration reached “enormously high levels,” Ross said, and resulted in frequent angry outburst at his mother’s house, which eventually ended in his brother asking him to leave.
While the consequences were far more dire, Ross said the shooting was like Botticelli’s other angry outbursts – impulsive and unplanned, and should therefore land him on the lower end of the scale in terms of sentencing.
McCabe disagreed, arguing Botticelli had taken time to deliberate.
“The Crown concedes that there wasn’t a great deal here, but certainly something led Mr. Botticelli to go into the garage after being told to leave his mother’s property,” he said, “He didn’t go into the garage to get a garden hose; he went in to get a loaded firearm.”
Botticelli, who has been in custody since his arrest, declined to address the court.
A date for his sentencing has yet to be set.
