In a tragic and harrowing case that has shocked the Canadian capital, Febrio De-Zoysa, a 20-year-old student originally from Sri Lanka, has been sentenced to life in prison for the brutal killing of six people, including a mother and her four young children. The violent incident took place in March 2024, leaving a grieving family and community in its wake.
At the time of the attack, De-Zoysa was living in the basement of the Wickramasinghe family’s rented townhouse in Ottawa. The victims were members of that family: Darshani Ekanayake, a 35-year-old mother, and her four children—Inuka, seven; Ashwini, four; Ranaya, three; and Kelly, a two-month-old baby born in Canada. Alongside them, a close family friend, 40-year-old Gamini Amarakoon, was also killed. The father, Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, was seriously wounded but survived the assault.
The sentencing hearing, which took place in April 2024, was a somber occasion marked by deep emotion and sorrow. Justice Kevin Phillips delivered the verdict, condemning De-Zoysa’s actions as “stupefying” and “monstrous.” The judge described the crimes as the stuff of nightmares, emphasizing the profound loss and grief caused by the killings. De-Zoysa was sentenced to life imprisonment and will not be eligible for parole for 25 years, a reflection of the severity of the crimes.
Throughout the trial, De-Zoysa showed little emotion, sitting still and expressionless for most of the hearing. When given an opportunity to speak, he apologized, stating, “I will spend the rest of my life acknowledging the truth of what I did.” Earlier, he had told investigators and the court that although the family had been “good and kind” to him, he was “unwell” at the time of the murders.
The defence lawyer, Ewan Lyttle, acknowledged the horrific nature of De-Zoysa’s crimes, calling them “unthinkable,” but pointed out that his client was struggling with mental illness during the incident. Despite this, the court made clear that the brutality and scale of the killings necessitated a severe sentence.
The victims were predominantly Sri Lankan immigrants who had come to Canada over the previous few years in search of a better life. De-Zoysa himself was a Sri Lankan student, and his case highlights the complex pressures faced by international students and immigrants, including financial hardship and mental health challenges.
According to court records, De-Zoysa committed the murders on March 6, 2024, driven by a desperate fear of being deported when his student visa expired. He told investigators that he had run out of money and did not want to return to Sri Lanka. The weapon he used was a 38-centimeter hunting knife, which he had purchased more than a month earlier. De-Zoysa initially intended to use the knife to take his own life.
The sequence of events on that tragic day began with De-Zoysa inviting Gamini Amarakoon to his basement room to watch a movie. In a matter of minutes, De-Zoysa fatally attacked Amarakoon. Hearing the screams, Darshani Ekanayake called her husband, who was still out. When Mr. Wickramasinghe phoned De-Zoysa to check, De-Zoysa lied, telling him the screams were just from the movie they were watching.
Following this, De-Zoysa moved upstairs and brutally stabbed Darshani and her four children to death. Hours later, when Mr. Wickramasinghe returned home, De-Zoysa attacked him as well. Despite being wounded, Mr. Wickramasinghe managed to subdue De-Zoysa until neighbors called the police after hearing his screams. Police found De-Zoysa sitting on the front steps, reportedly telling the arresting officer, “I was going to be deported. I had no choice. I killed them all.”
The court also heard moving statements from the victims’ families. Gamini Amarakoon’s widow, Dishani Asangika Fernando, appeared via video conference from Sri Lanka. She described her late husband as someone who had “given everything to us—his time, his energy, his dreams.” She spoke of the profound impact his death had on their children, explaining that their