The man who killed artist and skateboarder Lee Matasi will have to spend at least 16 years in prison before he can apply for parole, a judge in Vancouver ruled on Friday.

Dennis Robert White, 30, was found guilty of second-degree murder on Nov. 30.
(CBC)

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan handed down the sentence on Friday for Dennis Robert White, 30, who was found guilty of second-degree murder on Nov. 30.

White shot and killed 23-year-old Matasi outside a Vancouver nightclub on Richards Street on Dec. 3, 2005.

A second-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no parole for a minimum of 10 years. The jury had the option of making recommendations about White's sentencing but didn't.

Crown prosecutor Greg Weber had asked for 15 to 18 years with no eligibility for parole, but the task of sentencing White ultimately fell to McEwan, who spent nearly half an hour addressing the matter in court on Friday.

He spoke to White's character, his past, the repulsive nature of the crime and the fact society demands sentences that hit gun-related murders hard.

When McEwan told White that justice would be best served by a term of no less than 16 years, the tall dark-haired 30-year-old looked at the ceiling and one of his family members began to weep.

Outside the courthouse, Lee Matasi's mother, Susan Jessop, said she was happy with the sentence.

"I hadn't imagined 16, but as I say, we were very satisfied with that," said Jessop.

Matasi's father, Louis, was also pleased with the sentence.

"Well, emotionally, I will never have my son back. In some ways, I hope the 16 years will send a message out that enough is enough," he said.

But defence lawyer Terry LaLiberte was not happy with the outcome and said he is already planning an appeal, arguing it sends a strong message about gun control, but uses the wrong example.

Shoot provoked public outrage

A few days after Matasi's death in December 2005, hundreds of people attended a memorial in a skate park he had built under a highway overpass. The killing provoked public debate about the rising number of incidents involving handguns in Metro Vancouver.

During the trial, the Crown's case was based on testimony from police and more than a dozen civilian witnesses, some of whom saw a fight between Matasi and White outside the nightclub moments before the shooting.

According to one witness, White was showing off with a gun outside the nightclub when Matasi told him that carrying a gun wasn't cool.

The witness testified White said, "You don't know who you're dealing with," and shot Matasi after a short scuffle.

The incident was documented in a shadowy surveillance tape that showed Matasi running from an attacker. Tape from another camera showed his friends trying to offer him medical assistance after he was shot.

The defence admitted that White shot Matasi but argued that the Crown had failed to prove that White had intended to kill Matasi, and therefore the accused should only be convicted of manslaughter, not second-degree murder.