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A New Brunswick man has been handed down two life sentences, to be served concurrently, for the 2019 murders of a couple in their home.
Janson Bryan Baker was found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Bernard Saulnier, 78, and his wife Rose-Marie Saulnier, 74, in March after a two-month trial.
In his sentencing, Justice Cameron Gunn told Baker he “took the lives of two elderly, helpless people” and that he “assassinated them.”
“The obligation of people in a society, like ours, is to look after the vulnerable, to care for them, to cherish them, give them peace and comfort in their final years,” Gunn said in the Moncton, N.B., courtroom Thursday.
“You did the opposite. You stole from the Saulniers their final years, and you made their final moments ones of terror.”
The Saulniers were found dead in their home in Dieppe, N.B., on Sept. 7, 2019.
It had been the Crown’s assertion that their deaths were collateral damage in an attempted murder of their son as part of retribution for allegedly betraying a drug trafficking ring.
Their son, Sylvio, died in 2023 but police have said there was no criminality in his death.
RCMP announced the charges against Baker in 2023, on the fourth anniversary of the couple’s deaths. At the time the charges were laid, Baker was an inmate at the Atlantic Institution, a maximum-security corrections facility in Renous, N.B.
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Baker is to serve two life sentences without eligibility for parole for 25 years. He will also be prohibited from possessing firearms and weapons for life and communicating with anyone who provided victim impact statements in court.
‘No words to describe the nightmare’
The couple’s son, Luc, told the courtroom his parents’ murders shattered the family’s lives.
“There are no words to describe the nightmare we, my wife Diane and I, have endured,” he said. “Nobody who lived the way they did should have to die the way they died.”
He said his parents were “loved by so many people.”
“Rose-Marie, who was often called Big Mama, was vibrant, she was active, and she was a critical support being for her family, her many friends and the clients she served as a naturopath,” he said.
“To have their lives brutally taken from us and the countless people who depended on their support, love and generosity is devastating and we will suffer from not only their loss, but how it occurred, for the rest of our lives.“
He went on to say he and his wife still have nightmares and are frightened on a daily basis.
“We put chairs against our doors, still, at night with an alarm system,” he said.
The Saulniers’ bodies were discovered by Nadine Vosburgh — Sylvio’s former girlfriend — who testified during the trial that she found the couple in their bedroom.
In her victim impact statement, which was read by a Crown lawyer, Vosburgh said she and her son now live in fear and have spent years in a crisis centre.
“I believe the trauma of discovering them will remain with me for the rest of my life,” she said.
When asked if he wanted to address the court, Baker said, “not really. It’s under appeal and I’ll have my day in court.”
Baker’s lawyer, Brian Munro, confirmed an appeal “is definitely going to be filed.”
“It can take some time; it’s a complicated case. There were a number of legal rulings, there were a number of rulings that, in my view, are problematic and probably, upon review, reversible,” Munro said.
In a statement, New Brunswick RCMP said their thoughts were with the couple’s family and friends and their “profound loss following this tragic crime.”
“From the outset of this horrific crime, investigators remained steadfast in their commitment to identifying those responsible and bringing them before the justice system,” the statement read.
“We hope that the conclusion of this investigation and the related legal proceedings has provided long-awaited answers and a measure of closure to the Saulnier family, their loved ones, and the broader community.”
— with a file from Global News’ Anna Mandin
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
