Family of murdered Shuswap woman finds closure, relief in guilty plea

By Martha Wickett

Contributor

Cindy and John Simpson, parents of Ashley Simpson, described it as the sweetest word they’d heard in seven years.

“Guilty” was the word.

Rather than the first day of a scheduled 20-day trial on Monday, Oct. 30, Derek Lee Mathew Favell pleaded guilty in Salmon Arm to killing Ashley Simpson.

Ashley, then 32, went missing from the Yankee Flats area near Salmon Arm in April of 2016. Favell is charged with killing her on April 27.

Seated in the prisoner’s box in Courtroom 202, Favell, 39, wearing a light blue shirt with his dark hair pulled back in a small pony tail, the sides of his head closely shaved, told BC Supreme Court Justice Alison Beames that he understood what pleading guilty to second-degree murder entails.

Justice Beames explained the mandatory sentence is life imprisonment. The only variable is the period of time before a person is eligible to apply for parole – between 10 and 25 years.

Prior to the guilty plea, a five-week voir dire was held, sometimes called “a trial within a trial,” where the judge determines whether a particular piece of evidence can be admitted as part of the trial.

In this case, the evidence was regarding an undercover operation during which Favell confessed to the killing. The judge ruled that it was admissible.

John and Cindy, who sat through the voir dire, said it was disturbing hearing how Ashley was killed.

Read more: RCMP find remains of Shuswap woman missing for five years, former boyfriend charged

Read more: Ashley Simpson’s father returns to find her

Read more: Family of woman killed in Shuswap looks for ‘new normal’

“Totally disgusting that somebody could do that to another human being,” remarked Cindy.

“Brutal. Knowing what he was doing was wrong and he still did it, that’s tough,” continued John. “The good part is, she’s home. They found her and now we’ve got the justice. That’s it for us. Justice being served. We’ll come back for the sentencing. We’ll be here to hear the words. That will finish the closure.”

Cindy added that “those words will be almost as sweet as him saying ‘guilty’.”

John and Cindy also repeatedly expressed their gratitude to all the police and community members who helped find Ashley and who have supported them and their family.

Attending court in Salmon Arm along with Ashley’s parents was one of her three sisters, Amanda Langlois, and her cousin, Bobbie-Lynn McGean, all who had flown in from Ontario, and all who were relieved by the guilty plea.

Following court, Ashley’s family as well as three police officers, Crown counsel, victim services and two members of the media convoyed to a road between Salmon Arm and Sicamous where Ashley’s remains were found.

Family members expressed that it was both an emotionally difficult but necessary journey, clambering down the steep roadside drop to see Ashley’s resting place.

Her dad John shed tears before pinning a red poppy he was wearing on a nearby tree.

In December 2021, after Ashley’s remains were located on Nov. 16, 2021, they were returned to her parents.

A police officer who led the team searching for her remains said difficulties included the fact that animals killed on the highway had been dumped farther up the road, so the bones had to be analyzed.

It was finally with the help of a police cadaver dog that Ashley was discovered, along with the pink suitcase she was reported to have been carrying.

Her parents said they always thought she would be found in the region, as she would not have attempted to hitchhike across Canada.

Favell’s sentencing is set for Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. in Salmon Arm. Prior to sentencing, Glenn Verdurmen, Favell’s defence lawyer along with Dominique Verdurmen, requested a Gladue report. It is a pre-sentence report that can be prepared for First Nations people, providing background information and recommendations.

Ashley was one of five women who disappeared in the Okanagan-Shuswap about seven years ago. 2023 also brought the seven-year anniversary of the disappearance of Caitlin Potts and Deanna Wertz, and six years for Nicole Bell.

Vernon’s Traci Genereaux, 18, was also missing but her remains were found in October 2017 on a farm in Silver Creek. No charges have been laid in connection with her death.

John pledged to keep trying to maintain a focus on other missing women once the sentencing is over.

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