WARNING: This story may be disturbing for some readers.
An RCMP officer who interviewed the Nanaimo woman charged with murdering and dismembering her boyfriend has taken the stand at the Supreme Court trial in Vancouver.
The officer was responsible for interviewing Paris Laroche at the Nanaimo RCMP detachment after her arrest in May of 2021.
Four members of the RCMP’s major crime interview team came to Nanaimo from B.C.’s mainland for the interview.
Police arrested Laroche on May 27, 2021, and the interview began later that day and continued the next day.
Corporal Tiffany Isenor testified Wednesday morning that she was in charge of the nine-hour interview, while at least one colleague monitored it.
It was video-recorded, and the majority of it is being played back at the trial.
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Isenor spent considerable time at the start of the interview building rapport and comfort with Laroche.
Laroche was quite animated and spoke willingly about topics of interest, such as the metaphysical, skin care products, and her love of animals.
Laroche wasn’t arrested and charged with Sydney Mantee’s death until March 2022. She’s accused of striking Mantee in the head with a hammer while he slept before slitting his throat. She then cut up his body, leaving pieces of it at numerous places around Nanaimo.
Laroche has been held in custody since being charged. Wednesday was the eighth day of the trial that’s scheduled to last a month.
Last week, a police officer involved in an undercover sting testified Laroche told him how she killed Mantee and where she took his body parts around Nanaimo.
Kendall Hanson
