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Taylor Van Diest

Four years later: Armstrong family still organizing walk to remember murdered teen

ARMSTRONG - An annual walk in honour of murdered Armstrong teen Taylor Van Diest will be held on a different day this year in hopes of increasing turnout. “Participation is dwindling of course, but that’s to be expected,” Taylor’s mom Marie Van Diest says. “It would be nice to see a few more people turn...

2014 NEWSMAKER OF THE YEAR: Matthew Foerster, convicted murderer

THIS WEEK, INFONEWS.CA IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP FIVE NEWSMAKERS OF THE YEAR. ARMSTRONG - A murder trial into the death of an Armstrong teen concluded in 2014, putting the Cherryville man at its center behind bars for at least 25 years. The gruesome details of 18-year-old Taylor Van Diest’s murder at the hands of...

UPDATE: Matthew Foerster guilty for earlier attacks against women

KELOWNA - Seven years before Matthew Foerster murdered Armstrong teen Taylor Van Diest, he snuck into a young Cherryville woman’s home, knocked her head against a wall and told her to come with him. Details about the 2004 assault, and a subsequent attack involving a sex-trade worker in 2005, were revealed during a sentence hearing...

Matthew Foerster to appeal first degree murder conviction

ARMSTRONG - The man convicted of brutally killing an Armstrong teen is appealing his first degree murder verdict. A jury found Matthew Foerster, 28, guilty of murdering Taylor Van Diest, 18, in April of this year. The verdict carries an automatic life sentence, with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. But a notice of...

Community asked to lend a hand for Taylor Van Diest trail

ARMSTRONG - Murdered Armstrong teen Taylor Van Diest’s family is looking to the community to help keep her memory alive. Taylor’s mother Marie pleaded with the City of Armstrong for assistance weeding and watering along the Taylor Jade Van Diest Memorial Trail, which has become overrun with weeds, but the city will only agree to...

Armstrong council refuses to hear request for Taylor Van Diest Memorial Trail

ARMSTRONG - A plea for support in maintaining the Taylor Van Diest Memorial Trail will have to wait another couple weeks. Marie Van Diest, whose daughter Taylor was murdered Halloween night 2011, intended to ask Armstrong council for help with the upkeep of her daughter’s memorial trail Monday, but council wouldn’t hear her because she...