Matthew Phillips was looking for a fun night in Tofino when he met his killer.

The 47-year-old was described by his sister Michelle Phillips on Wednesday at his murderer’s sentencing hearing as a “beloved member of Tofino’s community,” who built trails there, and was a steward of the environment, in addition to being a world traveller, loving brother, uncle and son.

A life that came to a crashing end on the night of Dec. 28, 2020, after inviting a 23-year-old chef he’d met on a dating app over to his apartment on Chesterman Beach.

Court heard that his date, Luke Priddle, was on a three-day-long cocaine binge, and, in an argument with Phillips, stabbed him 75 times, ending his life with a stab wound to the neck, before his killer returned the next day and set a fire in the apartment.

“T

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