Foerster admits to killing teen

Mar 12, 2018 | 12:39 PM

VERNON — A guilty plea was entered in BC Supreme Court in Vernon by Matthew Foerster today.

He plead guilty to second degree murder in the 2011 killing of Armstrong teenager Taylor Van Diest.

Foertser will be back in court on April 9 to be sentenced.

It’s believed he will have to serve at least 17 years before being eligible for parole.

The plea ends the need for a second trial for Foerster who appealed his 2014 conviction for first degree murder over mistakes made by the trial judge.

Taylor’s mother Marie Van Diest says the justice system is flawed to allow Foerster to enter a plea bargain like this.

Foerster’s original sentence for first degree murder was a minimum 25 years before parole eligibility.

During his trial in Kelowna, the court was told Foerster hit Van Diest on the head with a metal flashlight in what the Crown said was a sex-related attack near the rail tracks in Armstrong on Halloween night 2011.

The 18 year old Van Diest died of her injuries in hospital.