SURREY — Nearly three years ago 20-year-old Branson Sanders was brutally murdered in the basement of a Surrey home.
His badly burned remains were found less than a week later in some bushes off of Fareham Avenue and Elwell Street in Burnaby.
For almost three years, Branson's mother, Hannele Sairanen, has endured hearing after hearing, as the Crown and defence counsel went over every detail of the morbid events of Nov. 27, 2011.
After two years of proceedings, the men accused of murdering Branson - 21-year-old Shakib Shakib and 20-year-old Brandon Nandan - pled guilty to charges of manslaughter.
On March 28 (today), Sairanen and other friends and family of Branson packed into a small courtroom in Surrey expecting to hear how long Shakib and Nandan would spend in prison - but that decision wasn't made.
At the sentencing hearing, the Crown and defence made a joint submission, stating both Shakib and Nandan should serve six years in jail, minus time served, for manslaughter.
But after listening to both the Crown and defence's submission - which included victim impact statements from Branson's mother, his aunt and a neighbour, as well as statements from friends and family of Nandan - Judge Michael Hicks told the courtroom he required more time to make an informed decision.
"At the end of the day the final decision rests with me," he said.
And so, after nearly three years of proceedings, the question of how long Shakib and Nandan will spend behind bars is put on hold.
Shakib and Nandan, their families, and the family and friends of Branson will be back in court on April 10 in Surrey to hear Judge Hicks' sentencing decision.