A Langley man who viciously bludgeoned an ex-girlfriend and her common-law partner to death in front of dozens of people in 2001 has lost another appeal.
William James McCotter’s appeal to reduce his parole eligibility period for two counts of second-degree murder from 20 years to something nearer to 15 years was dismissed on Jan. 8 in B.C. Court of Appeal in Vancouver.
“Twenty-year parole ineligibility order is consistent with similar cases involving multiple homicides and the murder of a former partner,” wrote Court of Appeal Justice Hall. Two other judges agreed.
McCotter was picked up by police almost immediately after he brutally kicked and beat his ex-girlfriend, Linda Lee Anderson, and her common-law partner, John Heasman, to death outside their Langley City apartment on Dec. 2, 2001.
A restraining order against McCotter had recently run out.
Anderson, a nurse at Langley Lodge, had a brief relationship with McCotter a few years prior, before going out with Heasman. During the trial, it was revealed that McCotter couldn’t let go, once kicking down Anderson’s door, causing her to begin the restraining order process. It was learned that Anderson told a co-worker she thought McCotter would kill her.
His trial heard that on the day of the murders he stalked the pair and purchased a jock strap and steel-toed boots. He parked outside their apartment, got out and used the boots to kick both his victims in the head repeatedly.
Several people tried to intervene but McCotter found a 2x4 and swung it at the men before using it on his near-dead victims.
A jury convicted McCotter in 2006, nearly five years after the crime.
McCotter caused delays in his trial by firing several lawyers.
Family members of the victims say he continues to make a mockery of the system by finding every aspect of his trial and conviction to appeal — all at the expense of the taxpayers.
At trial, counsel for the appellant sought to advance a plea of not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder, but the jury did not accept this.
McCotter appealed his conviction but lost in a decision on Feb. 3, 2012.
He suggested he may seek to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada but has not yet taken steps to do so.
For Holly Chamberlain, the nightmare of losing her brother and sister-in-law in this gruesome double murder was bad enough.
The grief and the way her brother, 37, and Anderson, 39, were killed left her traumatized.
Twelve years later, the man who killed them continues to victimize her family.
“When is enough, enough?” asked Chamberlain last February an interview with The Times.
“It is beyond belief that he can drag our families through all of this over and over again.
“He has all the rights and we have none,” she said.