'It sickens me': Widow of Mountie killed in Moncton shooting angered by Supreme Court decision

Wife of murdered Mountie angry with court decision The wife of a Mountie who was shot and killed in Moncton nearly 10 years ago says she’s frustrated and angry with Canada’s highest court.

The wife of a Mountie who was shot and killed in Moncton, N.B., nearly 10 years ago says she's frustrated and angry with Canada's highest court.

A unanimous ruling handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada on Friday determined that imposing consecutive periods of parole ineligibility in cases of multiple first-degree murders is "unconstitutional."

"The conclusion that imposing consecutive 25-year parole ineligibility periods is unconstitutional must not be seen as devaluing the life of each innocent victim," the Supreme Court wrote in its 92-page decision Friday.

Nadine Larche, the widow of Douglas Larche, who was shot and killed by a gunman in June 2014 in Moncton’s north end, says she and her family are upset and hurt by the Supreme Court decision.

"The girls are upset as well. They don't fully appreciate the importance, I don't think, but from what I've told them about it, they're in shock and disbelief," Larche told CTV News on Sunday.

On June 4, 2014, Justin Bourque killed Larche and two other RCMP officers -- constables Dave Ross and Fabrice Gevaudan -- during his rampage, which led to a 28-hour manhunt before he was captured. RCMP constables Eric Dubois and Darlene Goguen were injured in the shootings.

Bourque was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced later that year to serve 75 years in prison before being eligible for parole -- a sentence made possible due to a 2011 amendment to Canada’s Criminal Code allowing consecutive 25-year parole ineligibility periods to be imposed in cases of mass murderers, rather than imposing them concurrently.

On Friday, the lawyer who represented Bourque said the Supreme Court decision, which effectively strikes down life-without-parole sentences for mass murderers, supports “the idea of rehabilitation,” and could potentially change his client’s sentence.

“I think it will be on a case-by-case basis. But I think overall, the fact that the law was declared invalid, it’s not like they’re getting a pardon. It’s just they now have a faint hope that they will be able to rehabilitate themselves, that after 25 years they can rejoin society," Lawyer David Lutz told CTV News on Friday.

Larche said the thought of having to go to a parole hearing for her husband’s killer sickens her.

"That's basically 17 years away from now. It sickens me. It's just going to re-traumatize me, re-traumatize my family, the other families, the community, the members," she said.

Larche also said the role of the judicial system is to ensure public safety by protecting society from those who violate the law and she believes there has to be severe punishments to deter people from committing violent crimes.