Family hopes for closure in cold case
Former B.C. Lions receiver denies involvement in girlfriend’s 2009 death
The brother of slain Burnaby mother Kimberly Hallgarth said Monday that he hoped charges laid against her former boyfriend in the 2009 cold case might finally bring the family closure.
“We recognize that nothing can bring Kim back. However, we need and deserve closure and are glad to see this next step today,” Jamie Errand said in a statement released by police at a Surrey news conference Monday.
At the same time, her accused killer, Joshua Joseph Boden, 32, appeared briefly in Vancouver Provincial Court and was remanded in custody until Dec. 10. His lawyer Kevin Westell said outside the courthouse that Boden maintains his innocence, as he has done over the past nine years.
“These allegations have been out in the local media for the entirety of that time. Mr. Boden has been unwavering in his denial of his guilt in this matter,” Westell said.
Westell said he and fellow defence lawyer David Ferguson are still waiting for disclosure in the case.
“We will have a chance to review the disclosure and we will take it from there,” Westell said.
He wouldn’t say if Boden, a former professional football player, would make a bail application in B.C. Supreme Court.
Two friends of Hallgarth’s had been in courtroom 101 for the proceedings earlier in the morning, but left before Boden finally arrived close to 11 a.m. Both declined to comment.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said at the news conference the “new evidence … significantly advanced the investigation.”
Insp. Dave Chauhan, the acting head of IHIT, thanked Hallgarth’s family for its patience over the years.
“I realize the past nine years have been very difficult on Kim’s family and my deepest condolences go out to them,” he said. “I hope the news of someone being held accountable for Kim’s death brings some semblance of peace.”
He said the charge stemmed from “excellent foundational work as laid by investigators nine years ago, which continued into the present day by detectives of our specialized IHIT Cold Case Team.”
Hallgarth, 33, was found dead inside her home on Colborne Ave. about 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 15, 2009. She had dated Boden for about eight months.
Errand, who asked for privacy for his family, thanked investigators for their “hard work”.
“We have waited nearly 10 long years for this moment and are relieved that closure is in sight. Only we know the unimaginable grief that our family has been going through and the toll it has taken on every family member,” he said.
“What we have been going through is something that no family should ever have to experience.”
Boden, who briefly played in the CFL for the B.C. Lions and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, has had repeated interactions with police over the past decade.
Just last month, he pleaded guilty in a Vancouver courtroom to providing a false or misleading statement to police in May 2017.
He appeared in New Westminster court on Oct. 22 and received a three-month conditional sentence for breaching a court order. He also served two months in pretrial custody. Another charge of attempting to obstruct justice was stayed.
In the year before Hallgarth’s death, Boden was acquitted of theft, mischief and assault charges stemming from an alleged domestic dispute with her after Hallgarth wavered at the last minute on the witness stand.
The domestic charges resulted in the B.C. Lions cutting the receiver from the team.
Boden was convicted in December 2011 of two counts of sexual assault, one of obstruction of justice, and one of assaulting a police officer. The following July, he was sentenced to a year in jail.
Police had been watching Boden as he groped a woman who was walking toward the Commercial-Broadway station in September 2011. Boden fought with police when he was arrested. It took three officers, a civilian and a police dog to subdue him.