Gena Edwards, president of the BC Native Women’s Association, said that when Frederick Charlie was acquitted of second-degree murder last month in the killing of Vanessa Terry, there were gasps.
It felt like “a punch to the stomach,” she said, as the Indigenous woman’s family started crying, before walking out of the court in Chilliwack, B.C.
Terry was found dead in her home on a First Nation reserve near Agassiz, B.C., in 2024, in a case of alleged intimate partner violence.
Her relatives say they’re grappling with an intense mix of anger, confusion and grief after the Crown presented no evidence at Charlie’s trial last month.
The case collapsed when a judge threw out a confession and other statements by Charlie, saying they were tainted by “oppressive” and “humiliating” conditions that he faced while in custody, where police tactics included having an undercover officer deliberately urinate on himself while posing as Charlie’s cellmate.
Angela Smith, Terry’s stepmother, said she raised Vanessa from the age of five and was “devastated” when the man accused of killing her was abruptly set free on July 20.
“All my emotions are crazy. I’m really mad, I’m hurt, I am broken,” she said. “I really feel like the law has not helped in any way.”
Smith said she doesn’t understand how the Crown was left without any evidence to call once Charlie’s statements had been ruled inadmissible and wonders why they didn’t stay the charges to possibly revive the prosecution.
She said Charlie and Terry lived together for a couple of years at a home on the Seabird Island First Nation reserve.
Smith said Terry was “always there for anybody, it didn’t matter who.”
“She was friendly, she made friends in any way, she would help look after everyone, she loved children,” Smith said. “We always said she has a heart of gold.”
Mia Roberts, Terry’s sister, said she thought the case was solid and going well before getting “bombarded with bad news” about the evidence being tossed out.
She said she was caught off guard when informed by the Crown shortly before the trial that the key evidence was no longer allowed.
“I was pretty angry and my mind turned off and I ended up not hearing anything that they said,” Roberts said. “I was really angry because they led us on for so many months saying that they had a case on him.”
“It was really devastating for our family.”
The B.C. Prosecution Service said in a statement that the court’s decision on the admissibility of evidence in the case was “under review,” and the window to appeal remains open until August 19.
Charlie did not respond to a request for comment made through his defence lawyer.
The B.C. Supreme Court released two rulings on the evidence in Charlie’s case after he was acquitted, detailing the circumstances surrounding her death and Charlie’s arrest months later.
Terry, 33, was found dead in her home early on April 6, 2024, after paramedics were called about an unresponsive female.
B.C.’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team took over the case, and an officer received camera footage from a neighbour showing the comings and goings from the home just before her death.
Still images and video showed seven people arriving and leaving between 2 p.m. on April 5 and 3 a.m. on April 6.
Investigators identified six people, and referred to the seventh as “Male #1,” whom prosecutors believed was Charlie and he was arrested in June 2024.
The accusation of second-degree murder added to Charlie’s extensive criminal history, including a 2022 assault conviction in a case of intimate partner violence, and convictions for sexual interference with a person under 16 and uttering threats in 2012.
Homicide investigators expressed condolences to Terry’s family and community in a news release announcing the charge against Charlie, then 36.
“Incidents of intimate partner violence are tragic and have devastating, long-lasting effects on families and communities,” said the release from the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
Tactics employed by homicide investigators, however, ended up sinking the case.
The judge found that after Charlie was arrested, he was taken to the Chilliwack RCMP detachment and subjected to “a series of oppressive circumstances.”
“He was humiliated by being forced to change in front of police officers without underwear; placed in a cold and damp cell with inadequate bedding, denied a blanket initially, and given a sweater only after his first interview,” Justice Palbinder Shergill said in the ruling.
Charlie was put in a cell with an undercover officer posing as a prisoner who urinated on himself while lying close to Charlie, leading to a transfer to a different cell with another undercover operative.
The judge said the transfer was under “bizarre circumstances.”
“The decision of the undercover team to have (an undercover officer) urinate on himself in the presence of Mr. Charlie defies logic,” the judge wrote. “But more than that, it served to enhance the distasteful conditions facing Mr. Charlie.”
Sgt. Freda Fong, spokesperson for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said they were “disappointed by the court’s recent ruling.”
“We have been carefully reviewing the factors that led to the accused’s statements being deemed inadmissible and are consulting with Crown counsel to assess the viability of an appeal,” Fong said in an emailed statement.
Fong said there are “important questions” in need of answers, but investigators were not able to comment on the specifics of the judge’s findings because “doing so could affect the viability of the Crown’s appeal.”
Terina Roberts, one of Terry’s sisters, said she and Vanessa were very close, and she thought of her like a “second mom.”
She said she was the last person to speak with Vanessa and understood she wanted to end the relationship with Charlie because “he wasn’t a good guy.”
“I just know she wanted to get out of there,” she said. “She did want to come home.”
Roberts said the day in court when Charlie was acquitted was quick and confusing after the Crown revealed it would be calling no evidence.
“We literally just watched him walk out of the room,” she said.
Roberts said her sister was loving and kind, even during times of conflict.
“She was really pure hearted. She didn’t take things personal, you know? And she was amazing.”
Edwards, of the BC Native Women’s Association, said she had been supporting Terry’s family as the court process played out, and was present for the acquittal.
“I was really sad for the family because this mother left behind children. And her life matters, like anybody else’s life matters,” Edwards said
“Acquittal is telling this family that Vanessa’s life doesn’t matter.”
Smith and Terry’s other loved ones, say they feel fearful and under threat.
“I want to figure something out. I can’t just let this go because, I mean It’s been bothering me a lot,” said Smith. “I want to find another way.”
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