By Ian Holmes

Shocking murder in Nanaimo hotel was brutal, coordinated execution

Mar 25, 2019 | 5:42 PM

NANAIMO — The details of a disturbing execution-style murder in front of the night clerk at a Nanaimo hotel were revealed in a sentencing hearing, with the victim’s mother sitting only feet away from her son’s killer.

Brandon Tyler Woody, 33, is facing a minimum of life in prison with yet to be determined parole eligibility for the brazen shooting death of 34-year-old Andrew McLean.

McLean was gunned down in the early morning hours of April 19, 2017 in the lobby of the former Howard Johnson Hotel.

Woody pleaded guilty last month to second degree murder, which cancelled a previously scheduled trial.

Crown prosecutor Frank Dubenski said Woody and McLean were acquaintances linked to an Esquimalt apartment known for drug dealing in the Victoria area. Though police can’t provide a direct motive for McLean’s death, Dubenski said it was believed to be a reaction to McLean’s drug trafficking activities in Nanaimo.

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Disturbing security footage played in court showed McLean in the hotel lobby just after 3 a.m., looking out the front window and allegedly waiting for Woody.

A masked Woody then used an open back door to get into the hotel and approach McLean from behind. He fired twice into McLean’s back before leaning over and shooting McLean twice more in the head. Woody fled to a waiting vehicle two blocks away.

“The attack on the victim as depicted on the surveillance video is a brutal, shocking and chilling account of an execution killing carried out with remarkable precision,” Dubenski said.

He noted McLean was unarmed, unsuspecting, vulnerable and had no opportunity to defend himself from the purposeful and intended homicide.

Woody was nearly caught by police when speeding south on Terminal Ave. away from the scene. However, the officer who pulled him over let him go after taking the priority call to attend the Howard Johnson Hotel. 

“The officer did not know enough details of the shooting at that moment to know that Mr. Woody had a handgun in the vehicle and that he just shot Mr. McLean,” Dubenski said.

Within minutes of releasing Woody, police realized he was the likely shooting suspect and arrangements were made to intercept him as he traveled south.

Woody was arrested without incident about 40-minutes later in Duncan.

Several weapons, cash and small amounts of drugs were seized from his car.

Woody initially provided a false alibi to police, before changing his tune when the conversation shifted to his wife’s safety.

“Eventually he explained that he was directed by a crime group to travel to Nanaimo from Victoria that night,” Dubenski said. “He was directed to a residential location in Nanaimo where he was given a handgun by two people.”

The gun was then used to threaten people in a Haliburton St. home to find out where McLean was just prior to the shooting. Woody was also given an untraceable burner phone to receive instructions.

Dubenksi said Woody refused to carry out the hit on McLean, but followed through on the belief his wife would be harmed if he didn’t. She was allegedly given $9,700 by a man linked to the Esquimalt apartment to pay for Woody’s legal bills after the shooting.

Woody told police he wasn’t fully told why someone wanted McLean dead, who in Woody’s words to police “goofed up.”

McLean had heroin, cocaine and fentanyl hidden in his hotel room.

The victim impact statement from Wanda Campbell, McLean’s mother, said she’s depressed, filled with rage and will never forgive Woody.

“Mostly I feel empty with so much pain as Andrew is on my mind of every minute of every day. I will never be able to forgive the person responsible for this brutal, senseless crime,” Campbell wrote.

She was visibly emotional as she sat a few feet away from her son’s killer.

McLean’s homicide remains an open investigation.

Defence lawyer Paul McMurray said Woody’s actions were tied to coercion.

Supreme Court Justice Paul Riley is tasked with deciding how long Woody will have to wait for parole eligibility on top of his mandatory life in prison sentence.

Woody’s criminal background includes an armed robbery in Kelowna in 2011.

His sentencing hearing is slated to wrap-up Wednesday.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com
On Twitter: @reporterholmes