A heavy police presence ensued following a fatal stabbing outside Port Place Shopping Centre in January. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

serious crimes

Top Stories of 2023: homicide investigations, pending trials & sentencing hearings

Dec 16, 2023 | 8:16 AM

NANAIMO — While 2023 didn’t see the level of homicides as last year, it was still a violent year in the Harbour City.

With numerous unsolved murders from years past still under investigation locally, two additional homicides were reported in Nanaimo this year.

First homicide
2023 got off to an ominous start with a fatal stabbing outside Port Place Shopping Centre in downtown Nanaimo.

RCMP allege Sean Carl Patterson, 39, fatally stabbed Serguei Chiliakhov on the evening of Jan. 22.

The victim was taken to hospital where he later died of his injuries, despite life-saving efforts from a Good Samaritan inside the mall.

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Patterson was arrested later the same evening and has remained in pre-trial lockup ever since.

He’s awaiting to stand trial in BC Supreme Court.

The two homicides in 2023 in Nanaimo compares to four homicides locally in 2022 and five homicide investigation files opened in 2021 in the Harbour City.

Second homicide
On Oct. 18, Nanaimo RCMP announced the death of a local woman in early March had been upgraded to a homicide investigation.

Nanaimo RCMP Res. Cst. Gary O’Brien said Wendy Head, 52, died in a home in the 2300 block of Autumnwood Dr. near Labieux Rd. on March 7.

The death was initially determined to be from an overdose.

“Further information has come to light, investigators took a further look at the file and information has been forward to us and we are now treating it as a homicide,” O’Brien told NanaimoNewsNOW at the time.

No charges have been laid in Head’s case as the investigation continues.

Few details were released by Nanaimo RCMP in order to protect the integrity of the investigation.

“…we do know there are individuals on Vancouver Island who have information that can further this investigation and we need to hear from them,” O’Brien said.

Homicide cases advancing through the courts
Several homicide cases are either up for sentencing hearings or trial in 2024. Here’s an update on ongoing cases are newsroom is following.

Simon James Baker awaits the results of a hearing this week to determine if he had the mental capacity to be considered criminally responsible for his actions.

On Monday, Dec. 11 Baker, 23, pleaded guilty to second degree murder for the June 20, 2022 death of 41-year-old Denise Allick.

Following the guilty plea, more than two days of arguments between Crown prosecutor Nick Barber and defence attorney Stephen Taylor were held regarding the offender’s mental mindset at the time of the horrific knife attack.

The Crown opposed the defence’s request that Baker should not be held criminally responsible.

Justice Douglas Thompson is scheduled to release his decision on Jan. 10.

Paris Jayanne Laroche
A first degree murder trail is slated to begin in BC Supreme Court in Nanaimo on Jan 22, 2024.

Paris Jayanne Laroche, 27, is accused of murdering her former boyfriend, Sidney Joseph Mantee, in 2020.

She was arrested and charged in March 2022, with a charge of indignity to human remains also applied against her.

Laroche has elected to be tried by a jury in trial that’s scheduled to last one month.

James Carey Turok
Charged with killing a beloved elderly man unknown to him at a since-closed Nanaimo coffee shop, James Carey Turok’s case is at last slated to be resolved in 2024.

He was charged with second degree murder a day after the shocking death of 79-year-old Eric Kutzner, who was fatally attacked at Buzz Coffee House on the morning of Feb. 12, 2022.

While he was considered medically cleared to stand trial, Turok remains held under the Mental Health Act at the Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.

A four day hearing featuring testimony from medical experts will be presented in BC Supreme court in Nanaimo in late March to help a judge determine if the accused should be held criminally responsible.

Turok, who has a long history of bipolar disorder, has not entered a plea.

Mark Jayden Harrison/Aiden Matthew William Bell
Harrison and Bell are charged with manslaughter in connection to the stabbing death of Fred Parsons, in Sept. 2022 at Maffeo Sutton Park.

Parsons, a 29-year-old special needs man, was stabbed to death following a late-night altercation with people unknown to him.

Both young men were ordered to stand trial earlier this year, who have elected to be tried by a jury in BC Supreme Court in a trial starting in July.

Harrison remains in custody, while Bell is released on bail.

Editors note: All of these cases will receive detailed, in-depth coverage from NanaimoNewsNOW as their cases proceed.

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes