“You are the stuff of nightmares"
A Sri Lankan student who killed six people, including four young children, in Ottawa has been sentenced to life in prison.
Febrio De-Zoysa fatally stabbed 35-year-old mother Darshani Ekanayake, and her four young children Inuka, Ashwini, Ranaya, and Kelly in March 2024.
A family friend, 40-year-old Gamini Amarakoon, was also killed, while the father, Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, was wounded.
Delivering the verdict, Justice Kevin Phillips described De-Zoysa’s actions as “stupefying” and “monstrous”.
He said: “You are the stuff of nightmares… You have caused so much loss and grief.”
De-Zoysa, who cannot seek parole for 25 years, showed no emotion as the sentence was read out.
At the time of the killings, De-Zoysa was living in the basement of the Wickramasinghe family’s rented townhouse.
Ottawa’s mayor later called it “one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our city’s history”.
In court, De-Zoysa repeated what he had said during earlier investigations, that the family had been “good and kind” to him, but that he was “unwell” at the time.
His defence lawyer, Ewan Lyttle, acknowledged that De-Zoysa committed “unthinkable” crimes but noted that he had been battling mental illness.
When asked if he had anything more to say, De-Zoysa apologised and said:
“I will spend the rest of my life acknowledging the truth of what I did.”
The Wickramasinghe family, apart from the baby who was born in Canada, were Sri Lankan immigrants who had moved to Ottawa in recent years.
According to investigators, De-Zoysa told police he committed the murders on March 6, 2024, after running out of money and fearing deportation once his student visa expired.
The court heard that De-Zoysa bought a 38cm hunting knife more than a month before the attack. He had originally planned to use it to take his own life.
His first victim was Mr Amarakoon, whom he killed within “a small number of minutes” after inviting him to his basement room to watch a movie.
When Ms Ekanayake heard the screams, she called her husband, who was still out.
Mr Wickramasinghe phoned De-Zoysa, who lied that the noise came from a movie. De-Zoysa then went upstairs and stabbed Ms Ekanayake and the four children to death.
Hours later, when Mr Wickramasinghe returned home, De-Zoysa attacked him but was eventually overpowered.
Neighbours called police after hearing his screams for help.
When officers arrived, De-Zoysa was sitting calmly on the front steps. He reportedly told them:
“I was going to be deported. I had no choice. I killed them all.”
Mr Amarakoon’s widow, Dishani Asangika Fernando, said her late husband had “given everything to us – his time, his energy, his dreams.”
Their three-year-old daughter “asks for him all the time”, the court heard.
Mr Amarakoon’s teenage daughter, Asheri Hiyansa Amarakoon, said: “Nothing feels normal anymore.”
In his victim impact statement, Mr Wickramasinghe said the tragedy had “destroyed my whole world” and left him unable to recover.
He told the court he had brought his family to Canada in search of a better life.
He added: “Please do not destroy the peace and quiet of this land. Let us protect and respect it.”
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