High-risk Oceanside home invasion case finally closed

The victims are a father and son, who shared a home, whom NanaimoNewsNOW elected not to identify.

Hauschildt said the younger victim reached out to the offender on social media, whom he knew for several years, to invite her over to his place.

She was dropped off and the pair entered the bedroom of his downstairs suite where they shared alcohol, crack cocaine and an energy drink spiked with GHB.

Evenson then showed off a Glock 19 (9 millimetre) handgun from her purse, with the victim viewing her “chamber a round” and placing the pistol back in her purse.

He then became increasingly suspicious of Evenson as she spent considerable amounts of time on her phone.

A group of uninvited masked men then abruptly entered the suite, with one of the masked intruders entering the bedroom to greet Evenson and the victim.

He was armed with what appeared to be a shotgun.

Evenson told the victim to listen to the man, not to move and that if he followed instructions everything would be okay.

She took zap straps from her purse and told the victim to bound his wrist and ankles, which Evenson tightened.

Evenson warned the victim not to leave the bedroom.

“She indicated if he did he would be harmed by those other males,” the Crown’s Hauschildt said.

The victim then heard a shotgun blast in the living room, which left a large hole in the living room’s laminate floor.

Evenson demanded keys to an SUV parked at the property belonging to the victim’s father.

She and the other men left the suite after Evenson found the vehicle’s keys.

Awoken by the commotion, the victim’s father came downstairs to determine what was happening.

He discovered his distressed son and removed the restrictive straps.

The father noticed a black vest on the bed containing an ammunition magazine for a handgun.

Believing his son was overdosing, the father called 911, but opted to drive his son to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for treatment.

Thousands of dollars worth of valuables were stolen from the basement suite during the incident.

The following day, Evenson was arrested in Nanaimo, along with co-accused Spencer Lee Schaeffer.

He received a four-and-a-half year prison sentence in late Nov. 2023 after pleading guilty to three charges.

Nanaimo RCMP searched Evenson’s purse during her arrest, revealing the Glock 19 9 mm handgun, along with numerous ammunition and shells.

A magazine containing nine bullets for the handgun was also located in Evenson’s purse.

A detailed examination of the gun confirmed it was a restricted, fully functional firearm. The magazine found in the vest at the crime scene was designed to “fit into and operate” with the gun seized from Evenson’s purse.

Several pictures of the gun were submitted to the court as exhibits.

Delayed procedural history

Judicial proceedings surrounding Evenson’s case have been lingering for years.

Charges against her were promptly approved following her arrest in Nanaimo.

The Crown’s Hauschildt outlined how Evenson remained in custody until she was granted interim release on April 20, 2022, on the condition she reside at an Abbotsford recovery centre under 24-hours house arrest.

Evenson remained at the recovery home until her eviction on May 24, 2022 after breaching a behavioural contract.

Evenson was arrested on June 2, 2022, the same day a warrant for her capture was issued. She was still wearing a court-ordered electronic monitoring device at the time.

She was ordered to stand trial following a September 2022 preliminary hearing and was denied bail.

Evenson remained locked up until a Feb. 24, 2023 detention review hearing where she was again released to a Lower Mainland recovery home.

For a third time, Hauschildt said Evenson “started having issues” at the facility in April 2023 and was again evicted.

Evenson’s electronic monitoring traced her to Abbotsford and Vancouver, two cities where she was banned.

This is when authorities completely lost track of the offender.

Hauschildt said Evenson purposely allowed her electronic monitoring battery to die.

For over two-and-a-half years (April 17, 2023 to Oct. 21, 2025) Evenson was wanted, avoiding detailed searches to find her.

The Crown’s Hauschildt said police took numerous substantive steps to recapture Evenson, including media releases, liaising with B.C. government agencies, contacting her family, designating Evenson as a “special interest person.”

A warrant was obtained for Evenson’s last cell phone number.

As It turns out, Evenson may have been hiding in plain sight.

She was finally found and arrested at a supportive housing facility.

“It’s basically immediately adjacent to the RCMP complex in Surrey,” Hauschildt said.

Offender’s background

Despite living an extended high-risk lifestyle, Evenson did not have a prior criminal record.

Defence attorney Bobby Mavasaghi provided a brief background of her client while she participated in the proceedings via video feed from a Lower Mainland jail.

He reported Evenson’s life started derailing at the age of 16 when her brother died.

A life-long drug addiction took hold at the age of 18, which became further entrenched, Movasaghi said.

“This ultimately became worse in her 20’s, Ms. Evenson almost exclusively worked as an escort after almost a decade give or take.”

Evenson, who was born and raised in Nanaimo, was “sucked into this lifestyle” directly due to her drug addiction.

“She has a significant amount of time left, they are serious charges, but it’s also a serious sentence for a first-time offender,” Movasaghi concluded.

Sentence

A joint sentence recommendation was formed and accepted by provincial court judge Karen Whonnock.

Evenson has roughly a year and two months left to serve.

The sentence includes two years’ probation, a forfeiture order for the handgun and ammo, as well as a mandatory DNA order.

Evenson made a brief, unscripted statement to the court after being prompted by judge Whonnock.

She apologized for her conduct, saying she’s ashamed and embarrassed.

“I learned that you’re one bad decision from ruining your whole life. I learned that I have a lot of growing up to do,” the offender said.

Evenson, a mother to a 15-year-old daughter, intends obtain post-secondary education in the addiction support worker sector.

Judge Whonnock noted a victim impact statement indicated Evenson made threats aimed at the primary victim regarding testifying at trial.

The judge called the the intimidation tactic a “very aggravating” feature as part of her problematic post-offence conduct.

Judge Whonnock said the victims reported traumatizing, long-lasting impacts from the March 2022 incident.

“It has had a huge impact on them,” judge Whonnock said.

The judge referenced the inherent dangers of misusing firearms such as illegal hand guns.

“I really can’t stress enough the extreme dangers associated with handguns, especially loaded handguns — certainly here it was for an illicit purpose.”

Evenson pleaded guilty to unlawful confinement, motor vehicle theft and possessing a loaded/prohibited or restricted firearm without a license or permit.

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by Ian Holmes

High-risk Oceanside home invasion case finally closed

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