The man convicted in the killing of 12-year-old Monica Jack in 1978 will spend his life in prison.

Garry Handlen was called a sexual predator who preyed on the vulnerable and weak to commit barbaric crimes by Justice Austin Cullen.

A first-degree murder conviction carries a life in prison sentence, with no chance of parole for 25 years.

However, Handlen is eligible to apply for parole in 15 years through the so-called faint-hope clause. Cullen noted it’s because Handlen killed Monica Jack before the law was eliminated.

The trial in Vancouver heard that Handlen grabbed Monica Jack from a highway pullout near Merritt as she was riding her bike and sexually assaulted her before dumping her body on a hillside.

Her remains were found 17 years later.

Handlen was the part of an RCMP sting operation in 2014, where he told an undercover officer that he sexually assaulted and strangled Jack after abducting her.

 

-With files from the Canadian Press