A Chilliwack man is now awaiting sentencing for killing his two neighbours on Sept. 13, 2023.
Robert Freeman, 85, has pleaded guilty to committing the second degree murder of 58-year-old John Kavaloff, and guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter of Valerie Smith, 67.
Freeman killed the couple at Baker Trails, a trailer park on Chilliwack Lake Road.
His guilty plea came as a surprise in a Chilliwack courtroom Monday morning (May 4), where a jury trial was expected to begin.
Because the plea was unexpected, Crown counsel asked for time before a sentencing hearing occurs, to give the family members of Kavaloff and Smith time to prepare victim impact statements.
“The matter needs to be concluded at the earliest possible opportunity,” Justice Andrea Ormiston said.
After a brief recess, court reconvened and Crown stated they would have the victim impact statements by Friday. The sentencing hearing was then scheduled for Monday, May 11 at 10 a.m., and Freeman was remanded into custody.
When asked by Ormiston earlier in the proceedings if he was making the guilty plea of his own accord, Freeman answered:
“I’ve got no pressure, so, it’s of my free will.”
In 2024, Smith’s son, Travis Finnigan said in a social media post that “their absence leaves an unfillable void in the lives of their family, friends, and grandchildren.”
At the time, investigators with the RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) had called the double-homicide an “isolated incident between neighbours.”
Finnigan’s post also stated the incident stemmed from an issue between the neighbours over the couple’s small dog.
“My parents were completely innocent, loving people – cherished grandparents – whose lives were tragically cut short by a mentally unstable neighbour, all because of a grudge over their two-pound beloved Yorkie,” Finnigan wrote.
-with files from Jennifer Feinberg