A woman serving a life sentence for murdering her mother was sentenced last week for a second murder, that of a fellow inmate at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in Maple Ridge.
Gloria Crystle Zerbinos, 35, was awaiting trial in the 2012 death of her mother, Pangiota Zerbinos, who in the daughter’s basement suite in Surrey.
In November 2013, inmate April Peregooda, 51, of Vernon was found unresponsive in her cell.
Zerbinos was eventually convicted of second-degree murder, and last week, was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole until 2031 in that case.
During the trial and sentencing for her mother’s murder, the court heard Pangiota had become increasingly afraid to be alone with her daughter because of her erratic and paranoid behaviour, but had gone to Gloria’s home to drop off laundry on the day she was killed.
The mother was found in the suite that evening with multiple stab wounds and a knife still in her chest. Gloria was arrested two days later at a strip club in Vancouver.
Lawyers said Gloria suffers from a psychotic disorder and had also abused drugs and alcohol.
Prosecutors also said she had displayed volatile and delusional behaviour in jail, accusing authorities of poisoning her food and trying to gas her.
ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
Like us on and follow us on