A request for early parole has been denied to the man who killed two people and paralyzed another in a courtroom shooting that happened in 1982.
During a so-called faint hope hearing for Kuldip Singh Samra this week, a jury has heard evidence and victim impact testimony related to an incident where he opened fire with a .357 revolver at Osgoode Hall.
Samra returned to court Monday, trying to convince a jury to grant him a parole hearing. But on Wednesday, the jury said no. Their decision will send Samra back to prison for a minimum of 10 more years.
The 59-year old was convicted in 1993 for two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He had fled the country after the 1982 shootings and hid in his native India for nearly a decade.
The shooting happened during a hearing related to a dispute over an election at a Sikh temple. Samra went to the court, seemingly ready to shoot himself in protest. Instead, he became enraged during the proceedings and opened fire, killing Bhupinder Singh Pannu and lawyer Oscar Fonseca.
Fonseca's client Amarjit Singh Tatla was paralyzed as a result of his injuries. He gave a victim impact statement on Monday, as did family members of the slain men.
While Samra's lawyer argued that his client is a changed man, prosecutors called Samra's apology for his crimes "hollow and insincere."
Samra is currently serving a life sentence for the murders.
With files from The Canadian Press
