A 20-year-old Sri Lankan student, Febrio De-Zoysa, has been sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of six people, including a mother and her four young children, in Ottawa, Canada. The horrific incident occurred in March 2024, when De-Zoysa, who was living in the basement of the Wickramasinghe family’s rented townhouse, fatally stabbed Darshani Ekanayake, 35, and her children: Inuka, 7; Ashwini, 4; Ranaya, 3; and two-month-old Kelly. A family friend, Gamini Amarakoon, 40, was also killed, while the father, Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, sustained injuries. Justice Kevin Phillips, delivering the verdict, described De-Zoysa’s actions as ‘stupefying, monstrous,’ and emphasized the profound loss and grief caused by the crimes. De-Zoysa, who cannot seek parole for 25 years, showed no emotion during most of the hearing but apologized, stating he would spend his life acknowledging the truth of his actions. The victims, except for the newborn, were Sri Lankan immigrants who had moved to Canada in search of a better life. De-Zoysa claimed he committed the murders because he was out of money and did not want to return to Sri Lanka when his student visa expired. He used a 38cm hunting knife, which he had purchased over a month prior, initially intending to take his own life. The tragedy has left the survivors and the community devastated, with Mr. Wickramasinghe expressing that his world has been irreparably destroyed. The case has been described as one of the most shocking incidents of violence in Ottawa’s history.