Chilliwack River Valley double-murder case beset by delays hinges on ‘insanity’ plea in spring jury trial

83-year-old Robert Freeman admits to killing John Kavaloff, Valerie Smith leaving only his state of mind in question

Elderly double killer Robert Amede Freeman was in BC Supreme Courtroom 201 on Friday (Jan. 30, 2026) listening to the case management conference with his lawyer Simon Buck, Crown counsel Susan Gill, and Justice Andrea Ormiston, but he said nothing.

The 83-year-old sat in the prisoner’s box during the brief court appearance, somewhat ironically, because Freeman is not in custody despite the fact he admits to shooting and murdering John Kavaloff and Valerie Smith in the Baker Trails Trailer Park in the Chilliwack River Valley on Sept. 13, 2023, allegedly over the couple’s teacup Yorkie, Suzie.

Freeman wore a light rain jacket, jeans. He has short-cropped grey hair in a horseshoe balding pattern, and twice he looked around the courtroom expressionless.

Freeman was quickly charged with two counts of second-degree murder, but also quickly released on bail to live with his son, Something Worth Reading learned, in a townhouse complex near downtown Chilliwack.

Freeman has been out on bail since then, for more than two years as the case has been beset by delays, some caused by his own high-profile lawyer Simon Buck who is simultaneously representing Surrey Six killer Cody Haevischer who is amid a lengthy appeal of his first-degree murder conviction.

The contents of the court appearance on Friday are protected by a publication ban, but it has been previously reported that Freeman’s defence will not contest the essential elements of the offence. Instead, the defence in the four-week jury trial will centre around Freeman’s claim that he should be found to be not criminally responsible due to mental defect (NCR). 

Delays from Crown counsel preparing a response to the NCR argument along with Buck’s busy schedule led to the latter applying to have the trial dates moved from November 2025 to May 2026.

Kavaloff and Smith’s son Travis Finnigan has been exasperated how long the case has taken to get to trial, and he is not happy about any more potential delays.  There have been more than three dozen court appearances in the case already, with a defence application of some kind coming next week in advance of another case management conference before the trial.

The longer the case lingers, the harder it is for the family of Kavaloff and Smith.

"My parents were completely innocent, loving people – cherished grandparents – whose lives were tragically cut short by a mentally unstable [neighbour], all because of a grudge over their beloved Yorkie,” Finnigan said late last year.

Something Worth Reading waited outside the courthouse to ask Freeman and/or Buck about what they say to Finnigan and other family members about these repeated delays to get justice, but the two men spotted the reporter from inside and went back upstairs in the courthouse.

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Paul J. Henderson
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