Crown to push for adult sentence in teen’s murder
Perry cavanagh waited more than five years to get justice for the assassination-style shooting of his 18-year-old son Adam through an open basement window of their northeast home.
He and his family got justice Wednesday when youth court Judge Steve Lipton found the accused, then 17, guilty of firstdegree murder in the planned and deliberate act early on the morning of Feb. 3, 2007.
“Absolutely, I’m completely satisfied with the verdict. It was something we were hoping and praying for,” Cavanagh said outside court after hearing the conclusion of Lipton’s detailed three-hour decision.
“We have nothing but praise and thanks to Judge Lipton, certainly to (Det.) Spencer Frizzell, (Crown prosecutors) Grant Schorn and Kirsti Binns, the Crown organization itself, everything they did, the entire team — everyone across the board. We were so impressed, thanking God every second they were on our side.”
Cavanagh agreed the eight-month undercover operation targeting the accused was a key to getting the conviction.
“There were about 30 different people in CPS (Calgary Police Service) that conducted various phases of this operation, everyone from IT obviously through the Mr. Big team that was put together. The execution was phenomenal,” said the relieved father.
“CPS, on the night of the event itself, the incident, they were all spectacular individuals. Nothing but praise and respect for CPS and, most importantly Chief (Rick) Hanson, who led the charge.”
Schorn told Lipton he would be seeking an adult sentence for the accused, now 22.
The killer faces life imprisonment if sentenced as an adult, but only 10 years — six in custody — if sentenced as a youth.
Defence lawyer Andre Ouellette said he hadn’t yet decided if he would oppose an adult sentence.
Lipton said the accused “was the master of his own demise,” alluding to his confession to undercover officers Det. Moss and Sgt. Stuart Cole on June 15, 2010, in a Vancouver condo after more than 60 undercover scenarios that began the previous October.
He said the accused and Salim Kaddoura concocted the plan to kill Adam Cavanagh a short time earlier, after a phone call was received from a former girlfriend of Kaddoura’s cousin advising them that the victim was hosting a party that night.
Kaddoura had a beef with Cavanagh from the previous year and they wanted to exact revenge, the judge said.
Lipton said he did not believe the accused when he testified he never loaded the 9-millimetre handgun, never took it to the scene and never shot Cavanagh, but that it was his friend Kaddoura who fired the fatal bullet.
Instead, he said the accused’s story to the undercover officers, that he took the gun to the house to avenge his friend and shot the victim in the head, was most believable and fit the evidence.
He also said the evidence, especially related to the disturbance of snow along the house beside the open window, did not match the accused’s story.
“I find the plan was to go to the Cavanagh home, find an opportunity to shoot Adam Cavanagh. When the opportunity arose when there was an open window, he lay prone on the ground and shot through the open window, then fled and destroyed their clothing and the gun.”
The judge also said it did not make sense that the accused and Kaddoura would go to Cavanagh’s home to beat him up when there were 10 people at the party against them, and Kaddoura couldn’t even take a punch as he had previously been stabbed.
They had caught a ride with a drug customer, James Keen, and Keen drove them and the accused’s nephew in a truck to an alley behind Cavanagh’s Temple home.
Keen testified that the accused and Kaddoura got dressed in black and disguised and went through a backyard.
Minutes later, the driver said he heard a pop and the two men came running back and told him to “go, go, go” and take them to the home of Dennis Hubler, another drug customer.
Keen said he saw the accused with the gun when he got in the car.
Hubler also said he saw the accused with the gun after they arrived and he told them to leave.
The judge said both witnesses were compelling in their stories that fingered the accused as the killer.
Perry Cavanagh said it has been a long period of time, no question, and it has been difficult on his entire family.
“We fully support the Crown’s position in requesting adult sentencing,” Cavanagh said.
“We believe he knew exactly what he was doing and certainly was of significant age. He wasn’t a 12- or 13- or 14-year-old who committed a crime in this fashion. This is an individual who was two months away from his 18th birthday. We feel strongly that is the important next step.”
The father said Adam had a troubled past, but had paid for it and certainly didn’t deserve, under any circumstances, to be shot in the head and killed a metre from his bedroom door.
The accused testified that he was at the window, but never held the gun and did not shoot Cavanagh. He said it was Kaddoura who shot the victim.
Court heard that Kaddoura later fled to Venezuela, and Ouellette had contact with him in an attempt to get him to testify in the trial for the defence.
Kaddoura refused to come back to Canada, but agreed at first to testify by video conference, then later refused to testify in any manner.
He has never been charged in connection with the case and there is no warrant for him related to the homicide.
Schorn declined to comment after the verdict, but had argued the shooting was a well-planned and executed slaying.
“He brought a gun to commit murder,” Schorn said. “His confession to undercover officers (on June 15, 2010) was extremely compelling evidence about what he really did. There was no reason to falsely confess to murder to secure his position in the criminal organization,” Schorn said. “He lied about some things to cover his tracks, but he really wanted out of the country to Colombia, where he has connections.”
Schorn said he needed the crime group to help him facilitate his escape as Calgary cold-case homicide Det. Spencer Frizzell was pursuing him and wasn’t going to go away.
Ouellette had argued his client should be either acquitted of murder, as he believed Kaddoura had only brought the gun to the scene for selfdefence, or, at worst, convicted as a party to second-degree murder.
The case was adjourned until next Wednesday for Ouellette to decide whether he’ll oppose an adult sentence. A date for sentencing is to be set at that time.