Kootenay, B.C., man sentenced to life in prison for killing of neighbour, friend

A Kootenay, B.C., man convicted of killing a neighbour and a friend in February 2022 has been sentenced to life in prison.

Mitchell McIntyre, 66, will serve the sentence for second-degree murder with no chance of parole for 13 years, alongside a concurrent sentence of eight years for manslaughter.

It brings to a close a three-year case that raised concerns around the delay between McIntyre confessing to the killings and being arrested by police.

According to court documents, McIntyre was admitted to the hospital under the Mental Health Act after turning up at a local police department the day after the killings, saying he wanted to be locked up.

In hospital, he told doctors he had killed two people — his neighbour Julie Howe and former friend David Creamer, on Feb. 6, 2022.

Physicians initially dismissed the confessions as "delusional belief," though, noting he also spoke about hearing voices. It wasn't until more than a month later, after police had requested and combed through the McIntyre's medical records, that they arrested him.

Howe was found dead in her bathroom near Creston, B.C., in a pool of her own blood. Her death was not initially considered suspicious, but days afterwards an autopsy found a bullet in her head.

Creamer was killed the same day, in his Kimberley, B.C., home, but officials first ruled it had been an accident. He was cremated before police arrested McIntyre and an autopsy was never performed, according to court records.

McIntyre was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Howe and manslaughter in the death of Creamer.

He pleaded guilty to both charges.