Sofiane Ghazi, the Montrealer who pleaded guilty to stabbing his baby to death while it was still in his mother's womb, was sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole before 15 years.
Judge Jean-Francois Buffoni handed down the sentence Wednesday morning at the Montreal courthouse.
The 40-year-old pleaded guilty last September to reduced charges of second-degree murder of the baby and aggravated assault on his then-wife.
The unexpected guilty plea came on the second day of his jury trial and took everyone by surprise.
The second-degree murder count automatically carries a life sentence. All that remained was to determine the number of years before he was eligible for parole: the minimum is 10 years.
In the agreed statement of facts, it was revealed in court that in July 2017, Sofiane Ghazi stabbed his wife 19 times, including 12 times on the left side of her stomach and seven times on her left thigh.
Of the many punctures with a meat fork, nine injured the baby in her mother's womb, who was then 36 weeks pregnant. The injuries were visible at birth. The autopsy performed on the baby identified as the cause of death an in utero trauma caused by a sharp object. Fortunately, the mother survived her injuries.
By pleading guilty, Ghazi avoided a trial. He tried to withdraw his guilty plea less than two weeks later.
The court refused this request last March.