Aldergrove’s Davey Butorac has been convicted for the second time of the murder of Langley City’s Sheryl Lynn Koroll.
A jury returned a guilty verdict on the charge of second degree murder Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.
Koroll, 50 at the time of her death, was last seen alive in the early morning hours of July 7, 2007.
The victim had been living with her elderly parents, and paying for an addiction to drugs by working as a prostitute.
She said goodbye to her mother late on July 6 and was then seen near the Langley City 7-Eleven.
About 45 minutes later, security camera footage showed a white Chevrolet Cavalier arriving and departing at an industrial park on Mufford Crescent, then arriving and departing again. Koroll’s body was found at around 6 a.m. by the first workers arriving at the site.
Koroll had died of a skull fracture.
The Crown’s case largely relied on circumstantial evidence and forensics, prosecutor Wendy Dawson said early in the trial.
There were no eyewitnesses who could link Butorac to Koroll, and no one had seen them together.
However, Butorac’s car was an exact match for the type of car seen at the industrial park, dumping the body. A distinctive tire mark from his car’s tire was found on Koroll’s wrist, left when he drove away.
An intensive forensic examination of the car found that several spots tested positive for blood. When police searched Butorac’s house and seized his shoes, they found blood that matched Koroll’s DNA on the sneakers. Butorac told investigators early on that he was the only person who drove the car and the Van’s sneakers were his only pair of shoes.
The Crown did not attempt to offer a motive for the killing.
A murder conviction means that Butorac will automatically serve life in prison. The judge will determine when he is eligible for parole, with between 10 and 25 years possible. Even after becoming eligible for parole, there is no guarantee of release for a person convicted of murder.
Butorac still faces two possible trials.
He has already been tried and convicted for the murder of Koroll and of Gwenndolyn Jo Lawton, found dead on March 13, 2007 in a rural area of Abbotsford.
Butorac was sentenced to 23 years in prison before being eligible for parole. However his conviction on those killings was overturned by the B.C. Court of Appeals and new trials ordered.
The Appeals Court judges ruled that the judge in the first trial erred in linking the two murders.
Butorac also faces a charge of murder in the 2006 death of Aldergrove’s Margaret Redford.