Canada · Courts & accountability · September 20, 2026
Steven Laroche dies at Mission Institution; the Vicki Black court record
The official death notice and sentencing reasons distinguish the earlier Manitoba life sentence from the manslaughter conviction in Black’s case.
Steven Frank Laroche, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 1993 killing of Vicki Black, has died in custody at Mission Institution. Correctional Service Canada announced that Steven Laroche died on September 11, 2026, at age 58. CTV News reports that CSC separately confirmed he was the same man sentenced in the Black case in November 2020.[1][2][3]
The death notice and the sentencing reasons tell different parts of the story. Laroche was serving a life sentence that began in 1997 for a separate Manitoba murder. The sentence imposed in Black’s case was 10 years for manslaughter, reduced by pre-sentence custody credit—not the source of that older life sentence.[1][2]
What CSC confirmed about the death
In its September 16 release, CSC identified Mission Institution as the place of custody, gave Laroche’s age as 58, and said his life sentence commenced on December 19, 1997. The notice says CSC policy requires the coroner to be notified whenever an inmate dies.[1]
The cause-of-death information needs a qualification. The visible body of the release does not state a cause. The same webpage’s machine-readable summary and hidden teaser use the phrase “apparent natural causes.” That is tentative summary wording, not a published coroner finding; no such finding was located in this review. CTV’s report likewise noted that the release did not specify the cause.[1][3]
The public record reviewed here does not establish foul play, a particular medical condition or a finding about the adequacy of prison care. Coroner-notification policy should not be confused with the outcome of a completed investigation.
Remembering Vicki Black beyond the case label
Black was 23 and a mother when she was killed in Vancouver on March 4, 1993. The sentencing reasons describe the profound loss suffered by her daughter, mother, partner and wider family, and recognise the life and future she was denied.[2]
When police announced the arrest in 2019, her family described her as “a loving daughter, sister, mother, and friend” and thanked the investigators who continued working on the case, according to Global News.[4]
Black was working in the Downtown Eastside sex trade. That context mattered to the sentencing court’s assessment of her vulnerability; it should not reduce her identity to an occupation or turn her death into an excuse for speculation about other victims.
How the case reached court
The official reasons, R. v. Laroche, 2020 BCSC 1930, say the original investigation ended after two years without a suspect and was reopened several times. DNA evidence submitted in 2013 pointed investigators toward Laroche.[2]
An undercover operation began in June 2019. The court described almost 90 scenarios, during which Laroche eventually made admissions and supplied details consistent with Black’s death. Police announced his arrest in November 2019; he was initially charged with second-degree murder.[2][4]
On November 17, 2020, Laroche pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Associate Chief Justice Heather J. Holmes—identified as H. Holmes in the reasons—delivered the sentence in Vancouver.[2][5] The conviction in this case was therefore manslaughter, not a murder conviction, despite the original charge.[2]
Why the sentence was 10 years—and what the credit meant
The Crown and defence jointly proposed a 10-year prison sentence, less credit for pre-sentence custody. Holmes described the offence as brutal and identified Black’s vulnerability as an aggravating factor. The reasons also discussed Laroche’s age at the time, his guilty plea, acceptance of responsibility and remorse.[2]
The judge explained that a joint sentencing submission should be followed unless it would bring the administration of justice into disrepute or otherwise be contrary to the public interest. She found no basis to reject the submission and considered it within the appropriate range.[2]
Paragraphs 31–32 impose the 10-year sentence and set out 425 days of credit, described by the court as 14 months, leaving eight years and 10 months. That is sentencing credit, not a statement that precisely 14 calendar months had actually been spent in pre-sentence custody.[2]
The reasons calculate part of the credit at one-and-a-half days for each day in custody and the later part one-for-one after his parole was revoked. The resulting manslaughter term must be read alongside—not as a replacement for—the earlier life sentence.[2]
The separate Manitoba conviction and parole history
The 2020 reasons record that Laroche killed another woman in Winnipeg in September 1996 and was convicted of second-degree murder in 1997. This is the separate life sentence discussed in the current CSC notice and CTV reporting.[1][2][3]
The court did not overlook that conviction: it discussed it and Laroche’s parole history. For sentencing the earlier 1993 offence, however, the reasons treated him as a first-time offender. That description did not erase the later murder conviction or its life sentence.[2]
The reasons record day parole in December 2005, full parole in January 2008, a later suspension, and full parole again in early January 2014. Those periods mean that a life sentence beginning in 1997 must not be described as proof of uninterrupted imprisonment from 1997 until his death.[2]
The chronology, without conflating the records
- March 4, 1993: Vicki Black was killed in Vancouver.[2]
- 1997: Laroche was convicted of second-degree murder for a different woman’s 1996 killing in Winnipeg; CSC dates the life sentence from December 19, 1997.[1][2]
- 2013: DNA evidence submitted in the reopened Black investigation pointed to Laroche.[2]
- 2019: An undercover operation gathered further evidence; police announced his arrest and a second-degree murder charge in November.[2][4]
- November 17, 2020: Manslaughter plea and sentencing in Black’s case: 10 years less the credit set out by the court.[2]
- September 11, 2026: Laroche died in custody at Mission Institution; CSC issued its notice on September 16.[1]
What the sources establish—and what they do not
Official death notice: date, age, institution, life-sentence commencement and coroner-notification policy.[1]
Official court record: Black’s case history, guilty plea, judge, joint submission, sentence, credit and earlier conviction/parole background.[2]
Named reporting: CTV’s account of CSC’s email confirming the deceased inmate’s connection to the 2020 sentence; Global’s 2019 arrest report and family statement.[3][4]
Not established here: a final coroner finding, wrongdoing in prison care, or responsibility for other unsolved crimes.
The Facebook card brought this story to our attention. It is a static photo/news post, not a newly captured video. PBC checked the current report against CSC’s own notice and the court-hosted sentencing reasons rather than treating the social caption or its comments as evidence.
The judicial source trail
The verified sentencing record is also documented in CanadianJudges/JudgeWatch’s case source trail, linked to the existing Heather J. Holmes profile. It records the historical decision, not a finding of judicial fault in the later custody death.
Sources and further reading
- [1] Correctional Service Canada — death notice, September 16, 2026
- [2] R. v. Laroche, 2020 BCSC 1930 — official sentencing reasons
- [3] CTV News — Ian Holliday, September 18, 2026
- [4] Global News — 2019 arrest and family statement
- [5] B.C. Supreme Court: Heather J. Holmes appointment announcement
Reader note: the linked sentencing reasons contain graphic material that is not reproduced in this article. The original court record is cited so readers can distinguish the judicial findings from later summaries. See our source note, claim table and case-record summary.