Overview

• Luciano Mariani pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the 2021 baseball-bat killing of Caroline Bernard in her Bowser home
• Justice Robin Baird described the attack as planned and “exceptionally violent” against a vulnerable former partner
• A January 2025 decision struck down the blanket 25-year parole ban as unconstitutional and directed case-by-case proportionality reviews
• Despite that ruling, the court determined the mandatory ineligibility was fitting and allowed Mariani to apply for a parole reduction after 15 years
• Baird’s decision highlighted the profound and permanent harm inflicted on Bernard’s family and the local community