The fourth and final person to plead guilty in connection with a grisly double-murder in Mission, B.C. walked out of court on bail Tuesday.
Tom Holden, who was accused of ordering the hit that led to the 2008 killings of Lisa Dudley and Guthrie McKay, pleaded to one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
Relatives of the victims called out “You’re a coward!” in the courtroom before Holden entered his plea.
Holden didn’t say anything in answer to CTV News’s questions as he walked into the New Westminster Supreme Court parkade with his wife and two children.
“It’s disgusting. One of the biggest kicks in the teeth that he was able to walk out of here,” said Dudley’s sister Cindy.
“He gets to spend Christmas with his family. I don’t think that’s fair. I don’t think that’s right."
Holden was able to leave with his family the same morning because of a previously reached bail agreement, which will continue until his sentencing months from now.
But that didn’t make sense to the families there.
“I’m mystified how a man who admits to murder can walk out of a courtroom,” said McKay’s father Pat McKay.
The victims were both gunned down in their living room by Jack Douglass Woodruff, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
McKay was shot three times and died, but Dudley was shot twice and continued suffering for days at the scene; a neighbour found her paralyzed and tied to a chair.
Tragically, she succumbed to her injuries in an ambulance before reaching hospital.
The case was a black eye for local Mounties, whom Dudley’s parents blamed for their daughter’s slow death. Const. Mike White was called to the area with a report of shots fired, but never stepped out of his cruiser to investigate or to speak with the person who called 911.
The two other suspects accused in the case, Justin Andrew MacKinnon and Bruce Ian Main, both pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and were sentenced to seven and eight years in prison, respectively.
Holden’s sentencing is scheduled to take place in January.
McKay’s mother Dorothy said Guthrie’s three children miss him a lot.
“It’s sad. It’s very empty, to see Guthrie’s kids living without their father,” she said.
Dudley’s mother Rosemary said she spoke up in court because she wanted Holden to acknowledge his actions.
“He’s civilized, sure. But he’s still a murderer. He put this thought of killing my daughter in motion.”
