The wife of murdered Surrey, B.C. realtor Colin Hill broke down in tears outside court Tuesday after learning his killer will be eligible for parole in 17 years.

Khouri Lamar Green, 24, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the shocking July 2015 slaying.

That wasn't enough to ease the pain felt by Hill's still-grieving family.

"Seventeen years isn’t enough. It won't bring my husband back. It's not enough," the victim's wife, Becky Zhou, said while wiping away tears. "They shouldn't have criminals in residential areas."

New Westminster Supreme Court heard that Green brought a restricted handgun to the family's home late on a Sunday night intending to rob them.

Hill answered the door and heroically fought with the intruder to give his wife and children more time to hide.

He lost the struggle and was gunned down, but no one else in his family was hurt.

Green, who had 20 prior convictions and was on parole at the time of the murder, offered an apology to Hill's loved ones during a sentencing hearing on Monday, but did not turn around to look at them.

Hill's stepfather, Gordon Lamb, told reporters he didn't think the apology was sincere.

"I don't believe he was remorseful at all. All he had to do is take a second and turn around and look at the gallery. That's all he had to do. That would have shown he had some sort of remorse," Lamb said

"The only reason he pleaded guilty is because the evidence was so overwhelming against him."

The court heard Green had a history of breaking into homes and dealing drugs, and was broke and frustrated the day he forced his way into the Hills’ home.

He had fought with his girlfriend and mistress earlier in the day, then grabbed a 9 mm. semi-automatic Smith and Wesson, a restricted weapon in Canada, and stole a car from a strip mall.

He found the car owner’s address through the insurance papers and scouted the neighbourhood for a home to rob. The Hill family lived next door.

The killer's mother, Marcia, said she's hopeful Green's many years in prison will help him turn his life around.

"I want to tell the Hill family that I am so sorry for the pain that my son has caused, but I believe he will learn his lesson out of this," she said Tuesday while leaving court.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Shannon Paterson