A B.C. Supreme Court judge has reserved his decision to sentence a Brazilian national for her role in the death of a Marysville man in 2013.
Claudia De Assumpcao was in court on Tuesday, Feb. 2, for a sentencing hearing as defence and Crown counsel presented their submissions to Mr. Justice Terence Schultes.
De Assumpcao has been in custody since March 2013, after she was arrested by Kimberley RCMP and charged with murder following the death of Jordan Lomsnes.
Lomsnes died from smoke inhalation in his Marysville home after a fire was deliberately set outside his bedroom by De Assumpcao.
De Assumpcao has since pleaded guilty to manslaughter, with Crown counsel asking for 10 years, while defence counsel is asking for her release based on four years and four and a half months of credit for time served.
De Assumpcao will be sentenced on Thursday, March 10, in Cranbrook Supreme Court.
Both Crown and defence counsels referenced case law during their submissions in determining a sentencing length, while De Assumpcao also addressed the court, speaking through an interpreter.
"I caused so much pain, so much suffering for this family that received me so well," De Assumpcao said. "I loved Jordan."
"… My punishment—it's not being in jail. My punishment is remembering him everyday, that he is no longer here because of me and this guilt I will carry as long as I live."
While in her home country of Brazil, De Assumpcao met Lomsnes online before coming to Marysville in February, 2012. They were in a tumultuous relationship, which deteriorated over the following year.
On March 7, 2013, after drinking alcohol with a friend in a small building beside his home, Lomsnes and De Assumpcao had an argument before he went to bed alone.
At some point following the argument, De Assumpcao poured gasoline on the floor outside the bedroom and ignited the fire. She fled the house and spent the night on the property in a small building by the house and a travel trailer, before eventually going to the East Kootenay Regional Hospital in Cranbrook the next day.
After a conversation with a hospital employee, the RCMP were contacted and De Assumpcao was subsequently arrested.
At the sentencing hearing, defence counsel argued that De Assumpcao set the fire as a way of acting out against Lomsnes by damaging his property.
Crown counsel argued that her intention was bodily harm, and that if she wanted to lash out, she could've damaged other items, such as his sports car or ATV.