NNN’s last 10: Tragedy, trials and justice in Nanaimo courtrooms

Nanaimo mill shooting:

About two months after launching, NanaimoNewsNOW provided daily updates of the extended Kevin Addison trial.

The former employee of the Western Forest Products sawmill which previously stood on Nanaimo’s assembly wharf property was the site of two employees shot to death, while two others were injured in an April 2014 shooting.

Kevin Addison was found guilty by a jury of two counts of first degree murder for the deaths of Michael Lunn and Fred McEachern, as well as attempting murder for injuring Tony Sudar and Earl Kelly.

All of the victims were employees of the mill in which Addison was previously employed.

Lunn was shot after exiting his truck as he arrived for work.

Despite being mortally wounded, McEachern hit Addison over the head with a char, assisting employee Andy Vangar hold Addison until police arrived.

Addison was described by Crown prosecutors as a disgruntled former employee out for revenge, who was upset about losing his job in company layoffs.

He was sentenced in December 2016, carrying an automatic punishment of life in prison without parole eligibility for 25 years.

Justice Robin Baird called Addison’s actions “precise, calculated, cold and merciless,” and that Addison made his name in the community synonymous with gratuitous, murderous violence.

Addison’s case led to national headlines, leading to meaningful conversations regarding workplace violence.

Howard Johnson Hotel homicide:

An execution-style murder at Nanaimo’s since demolished Howard Johnson Hotel in April 2017 was a brutal, calculated crime.

The shooter, Brandon Woody, was relatively unknown to the victim, Andrew McLean.

McLean was shot four times from behind, including twice in the head, after the shooter approached McLean from behind by a masked Woody during an early morning sneak attack.

The shooting was captured on surveillance video, occurring in front of a stunned night clerk.

Known to each other loosely from the Victoria area, it’s believed McLean’s death was retaliatory for establishing drug trafficking in Nanaimo.

After originally pleading not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder and the matter proceeding to trial, Woody pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March 2017 and was handed life in prison without parole eligibility for 17 years.

Makayla Chang homicide

First reported missing in mid March 2017, 16-year-old John Barsby Secondary School student Makayla Chang’s ominous disappearance ended about two months later when her remains were found in a shallow grave off Nanaimo Lakes Rd.

The startling discovered outraged the community and beyond.

Chang’s disappearance and homicide garnered considerable local, regional and even national media attention.

Steven Bacon was an early person of interest, positioning himself as a male mentor of sorts with Chang’s own father in jail.

Following an exhaustive police investigation, Bacon was eventually charged with first-degree murder in September 2020.

Bacon initially pleaded not guilty, later opting to switch his plead to guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder, cancelling a BC Supreme Court jury trial.

Circumstances behind Chang’s death and why Bacon killed her were finally made public at sentencing.

Court heard Bacon developed what he perceived as a father-daughter relationship and had plans to potentially adopt her.

During an argument, Bacon said he pushed her, with Chang striking her head.

He then strangled her.

Kenneth Postman, Bacon’s friend and landlord, then helped dispose of Chang’s remains.

Postman was never charged, likely because his cooperation with authorities implicated Bacon and led to the discovery of Chang’s remains.

An April 2023 sentencing hearing confirmed Bacon’s life in prison sentence, with parole eligibility set at 20 years.

Sidney Mantee murder

A particularly disturbing homicide and even vile post-offence conduct, Nanaimo woman Paris Laroche was convicted of second-degree murder for the death of her estranged boyfriend, Sidney Mantee.

He disappeared in March 2020, triggering a missing persons investigation.

Two years later, Laroche was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and interfering with human remains.

As Mantee slept face-down on a mattress in the Rosehill St. apartment unit he and Laroche shared, she delivered hammer strikes to the back of his head during an early morning ambush, then slit his throat.

Laroche then dismembered Mantee.

Over the course of several months, Laroche dispersed Mantee’s remains throughout the Nanaimo area, including in parks and into the ocean.

She confessed to a friend and later outlined her actions during an undercover police operation.

At trial, Laroche presented a self-defence argument through her legal counsel, relaying that Mantee was abusive and Laroche felt she needed to take extreme actions to protect herself.

The argument was swiftly rejected by BC Supreme Court Justice Robin Baird.

However, the judge was convinced that the level of pre-meditation and planning required for a first- degree threshold was met, opting instead for a second-degree murder conviction, carrying an automatic life in prison sentence.

In February of last year, Laroche was handed parole eligibility at 12 years.

Not criminally responsible

A pair of highly disturbing stabbing homicides resulted in men with documented mental health issues found not criminally responsible.

In both cases, highly vulnerable people unknown to the accused met violent ends, sending shockwaves throughout the mid Island region.

Eric Kutzner was stabbed a dozen times as the beloved 79-year-old was preparing to open the since closed Buzz Coffee House at Long Lake Plaza on Feb, 12 2022.

James Carey Turok entered through an open back door, picked up a knife and killed Kutzner.

Concerns of Turok’s mental state arose upon his arrest on scene.

“He’s a zombie, he’s a zombie!” Turok told police as they took him into custody.

Turok was eventually re-located from Nanaimo RCMP cells to the psychiatric unit at Nanaimo hospital where he was detailed under the Mental Health Act.

His claims included being a genius assisting Elon Musk.

Turok repeatedly claimed Kutzner was a Zombie.

Expert independent forensic psychiatrists on behalf of the Crown counsel and defence concluded Turok didn’t understand the moral wrongfulness of his actions, which was accepted by the presiding judge.

Turok remains in custody at the BC Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.

A few months after Kutzner’s death, another seemingly random fatal stabbing rocked the mid-Island region.

Simon James Baker stabbed a 41-year-old woman to death outside his grandparent’s Eighth St. home in June 2022.

There was no known connection between Baker and Denise Allick.

She happened to be in the area after parting ways with a friend just prior and parking near the crime scene, for reasons unclear to investigators.

In December 2023, Baker pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, however, his longstanding documented mental health struggles factored into how he was sentenced.

Schizophrenia, paranoia, and substance abuse culminated into delusions, which a judge concluded prevented Baker from realizing the gravity of his actions when he impulsively stabbed Allick.

Baker also remains at the BC Psychiatric Hospital, with his case reviewed annually.

Frederick Parsons homicide

Senselessly stabbed to death following a confrontation by a group of young people, Frederick Parsons’ death shocked the Nanaimo community.

A beloved neuro-diverse 29-year-old man forging his independence, Parsons and two friends went to the Maffeo Sutton Park playground for some late night laughs during Labour Day weekend in 2022.

Parsons and his two friends ended up in a confrontation with two young men (Aiden Matthew William Bell and Mark Jayden Harrison) as well as a female accomplice.

Tensions escalated and Bell fatally stabbed Parsons after the groups came in close contact.

A strong set of primarily circumstantial evidence was enough for jurors, who convicted the pair of manslaughter after original charges of second-degree murder applied.

Parsons’ blood ended up on Bell’s jacket during the melee, which also saw Harrison unleash bear spray.

escribed as a positive, high-functioning man on the autism scale, Parsons’ family members submitted powerful victim impact statements at sentencing.

“May you be haunted day and night by the cries for help that you caused, that you mocked, and then ignored,” his mother told both offenders.

In February of last year, Bell received an eight year sentence, while Harrison also received eight years behind bars, but with pre-trial credit he had just over four years to serve.

Parsons’ death illuminated mounting concerns of youth violence in Nanaimo.

While these cases stood out to our readers and listeners, many others made a significant mark in the lives of many people, as well as the broader community, who call the Nanaimo area home.

Chronicling balanced coverage to help our readers gain a better understanding of what is often a complex legal system has been and will remain a priority for NanaimoNewsNOW.

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by NanaimoNewsNOW staff

NNN’s last 10: Tragedy, trials and justice in Nanaimo courtrooms

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