'Budding serial killer' who murdered man in B.C. park ineligible for parole for 20 years

Kevin Wesley is shown in an image provided by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

Warning: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing.

A B.C. man who viewed himself as a “budding serial killer” has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for 20 years after he pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Christopher Hood in an Abbotsford park.

Kevin Percy Wesley was 21 years old when he killed the 45-year-old with a garrote made from a guitar string and a knife after luring him into Clearbrook Park in the early morning hours of July 5, 2021, the court heard.

Wesley’s sentence was handed down in B.C. Supreme Court on July 5, exactly two years after the murder was committed. The automatic sentence for second-degree murder is life in prison, so the only thing debated in court was the period of time before Wesley would become eligible for parole—which could range from 10 to 25 years.

THE MURDER

Justice S. Dev Dley described Wesley as a “disturbed young man” in the sentencing decision posted online this week. At the time of the murder, he was unemployed and living at home. He had an “admiration for the dark side of society” and was a “loner,” the judge said.

Wesley’s journal entries, found after the killing, revealed that he viewed himself as a “budding serial killer” with the “ultimate goal of becoming an assassin,” the court heard.

In the entries, he expressed interest in serial killers and an admiration for the Columbine mass shooters.

After he killed Hood, Wesley wrote that he had completed his first killing and was on his way to achieving his career goal of becoming an assassin, Dley recounted.

On that July 2021 morning, Wesley lured Hood to Clearbrook Park “with the express intention of killing him,” the judge said. “It was an unprovoked, planned, deliberate and vicious attack.”

Wesley came armed with a knife and a homemade garrote. He approached Hood from behind and attempted to strangle him with the wire, the court heard.

“The wire broke, but Mr. Wesley carried on and stabbed Mr. Hood some 19 times,” Dley said.

At one point during the attack, Dley recounted, Hood managed to grab the knife, but Wesley overpowered him, took back the knife and continued to stab him.

Wesley stayed at the scene and watched Hood die.

He then retrieved an aerosol silicone spray and a barbecue lighter from his home, the court heard. Wesley tried to remove his DNA from Hood’s body by burning his face and hands.

He left the body in the park and returned home, where he constructed a new garrote wire that he kept in his bedroom.

Dley described the victim impact statements as “passionate and profound.” Hood’s father wrote that “a loving son, a great father, and a sister's best friend stolen from us. An uncle and father figure to his nieces Abby and Grace.”

“His kids are orphans now. Every moment from hereon forward, weddings, birth of grandchildren, Christmas, Father's Day, all tarnished by his absence,” the statement continued.

Wesley was interviewed by police on August 13, 2021, and he confessed to the crime and provided officers with a re-enactment, according to the court decision.

THE SENTENCING

Both Crown and defense proposed that Wesley not be eligible for parole for 20 years.

The mitigating circumstances in the case include Wesley’s guilty plea and absence of a criminal record, as well as the fact he is a young, Indigenous offender who co-operated fully with police. Wesley also expressed remorse, and has “emphasized his remorse with suicidal tendencies,” Dley said.

Dley noted that Wesley had a difficult upbringing, suffering sexual abuse and violence during his childhood. “I am also mindful of the colonial impact that Indigenous people have suffered,” he said.

The aggravating circumstances listed were more numerous, and include the fact that Wesley planned to kill Hood; that Hood was unarmed and defenceless; that Wesley selected Hood as his victim and used two weapons in the attack; and that he lured Hood to the park under false pretences.

Dley also noted that Wesley had the opportunity to withdraw from the attack twice: when the garrote wire snapped, and when Hood was able to grab the knife.

“It is an aggravating factor that after the stabbing, Mr. Wesley remained on scene to confirm that Mr. Hood was dead before he left, thereby ensuring that Mr. Hood would not receive any assistance or survive his injuries,” Dley said.

The final aggravating factors listed are that Wesley caused “further indignity” to Hood’s body by burning portions of his face and hands in an attempt to conceal his involvement; that it was a “vicious attack” in a public place; and that Hood’s body “was left in a pool of blood in an area open and accessible to the public.”

The judge decided that the proposed sentence of 20 years was appropriate.

“I want to emphasize that even though the focus of the discussion here has been whether or not 20 years is the number before Mr. Wesley is eligible for parole, the sentence is life in prison, and Mr. Wesley will only be eligible for parole after 20 years,” Dley said.

“Hopefully, with the appropriate counselling and programming, enough progress can be made that the Parole Board will consider eligibility for parole. There is no guarantee of that.”