TORONTO - A Toronto man in the midst of studying to become a radio broadcaster when he stabbed his mother to death will serve at least 15 years in prison.
John Boukhalfa was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his mother, Antonia Zammit, who he hit with a baseball bat and stabbed more than 30 times in December, 2009.
Boukhalfa, who was 26 when he killed his mother, testified at his trial that they had argued over his anti-psychotic medication and that she threatened to kill him, so he had to kill her first.
Boukhalfa, a radio broadcasting student at Humber College at the time, was living with his mother while he served a conditional sentence for a 2006 assault on a woman and was being treated for suspected schizophrenia.
Since the jury found Boukhalfa guilty, Superior Court Judge Maureen Forestell found that the jury had rejected the self-defence or provocation scenario.
Second-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence, but parole eligibility can vary and in a decision released Tuesday, Forestell ruled Boukhalfa cannot apply for parole until he has served 15 years.
