On the day a lengthy trial was set to start for an elderly man charged after a neighbour dispute turned into a double killing, the senior suddenly admitted to shooting the couple who lived next door.
Robert Amede Freeman, 86, has pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of John Kavaloff and to the lesser charge of manslaughter in the death of Valerie Smith. Both were shot in the chest at the trailer park in Chilliwack where they lived in 2023.
The court heard that Freeman had been neighbours with the victims for more than a decade.
But on Sept.13, 2023, Freeman walked next door carrying a rifle, where 58-year-old Kavaloff was speaking with a friend in the driveway.
According to the agreed facts, words were exchanged and then Freeman shot Kavaloff in the chest. A second bullet hit Kavaloff’s partner, Valerie Smith, who was 67. She was found dead by police inside their home.
Freeman walked into court, still free on bail. But bail was revoked after he entered the guilty pleas.
“It was good to see Robert Freeman put into handcuffs, finally, when this should have happened two-and-a-half years ago. So, it’s many mixed emotions.” said Joy Finnigan, the victims’ daughter-in-law.
“We just went through two-and-a-half years of him being free, which doesn’t really allow you to heal or grieve properly,” she said, adding that it’s been 964 days since Freeman was allowed out on bail and 43 court appearances before the pleas were finally entered.
The victims’ son said that while he’s happy there’s been guilty pleas, “it shouldn’t have taken this long. I feel like the justice system has failed our family.”
Travis Finnigan believes that Freeman “strung it out this long just so he could be free. It’s not right at all. I feel like the justice system is broken and nobody does anything about it.”
A sentencing hearing for Freeman is scheduled for next week.
