Gaming the system? Chilliwack River Valley double-murder case beset by more delays as accused killer switching lawyers while out on bail

Every day 85-year-old Robert Amede Freeman delays his double-murder trial is another day he enjoys living in the community

There was a certain contemptible smugness in 85-year-old Robert Amede Freeman’s face as the little man put on his baseball hat and walked out of courtroom 201 at the Chilliwack Law Courts on Tuesday (Feb. 17, 2026), pausing to address this reporter with a passing bit of sarcasm.

“You get that date down?” Freeman asked me, referring to the Feb. 27 date set in BC Supreme Court for a second case management conference. Ya, I got the date.

That meeting is in advance of a scheduled jury trial with all parties to deal with the fact that Freeman is likely firing his lawyers and obtaining new counsel.

After that court appearance, Freeman strolled down the hall and walked out the courthouse doors enjoying the clear February day. He walked across Yale and Princess to his pickup truck parked on the street. After that, Freeman either drove home to his townhouse near Little Mountain or, who knows, maybe he went for a coffee, or lunch, or for a walk, all the things the rest of us who aren’t in prison get to do every day.

As for his alleged victims, John Kavaloff and Valerie Smith are dead. They were shot in their trailer park in the Chilliwack River Valley in September 2023, allegedly over a dispute about the couple’s dog, Suzie the Yorkie. 

The accusation is that Freeman walked out of his unit at the Baker Trails Trailer Park with a rifle, walked towards Kavaloff who was talking with a friend. The friend fled and Kavaloff was shot and killed. Kavaloff’s wife Valerie Smith was then also shot and killed.

For months, the couple’s son Travis Finnigan has expressed frustration at how slow the process has been, how Freeman was released on bail eight days after his arrest, and he is successfully delaying proceedings one court appearance after another.  

For two years and five months, since late September 2023,  Freeman has been living in a townhouse east of downtown with his son as part of release conditions on bail. Neighbours expressed concern to police about possible firearms in the unit and Freeman’s behaviour, but no one wanted to be named or quoted. He comes and goes as he pleases in his pickup truck, an unfortunate legal reality that is upsetting to his alleged victims’ family, those affected by the traumatic event in the river valley in 2023, and those in the community now left to wonder why a supposed killer is not only not in jail but is using legal moves to delay a conviction and prison, adding insult to murderous injury.

There are a number of common ways used by criminal accused to delay proceedings, such as making frivolous Charter applications, motions to exclude evidence or ask for publication bans. But a common one is replacing counsel, something that an accused has every right to do, something Crown cannot generally oppose, in part because that delay does not count toward the Jordan timeline, which addresses the so-called “trial within a reasonable time” element of section 11(b) of the Charter.

Freeman’s lawyer is high-profile lawyer Simon Buck who is also busy representing Surrey Six killer Cody Haevischer and is amid a lengthy appeal of his first-degree murder conviction. A 20-day jury trial was scheduled to start November 2025, but in September – the 30th appearance in B.C. Supreme Court – Finnigan learned the trial would be delayed until May 2026.

If Freeman indeed fires his lawyer and tells the court he is looking for new counsel at the case management conference on Feb. 27, it very well could delay the already-delayed jury trial scheduled for May.

As for his release on bail, the same day Freeman appeared in court October 2025, Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, was joined by B.C. Premier David Eby and Attorney General Niki Sharma in Victoria to announce the new federal Bail and Sentencing Reform Act. 

“Ensuring basic respect for community standards and keeping violent offenders away from people they would hurt or kill are the basic functions of the criminal law,” Premier Eby said in a news release.

In the case of Freeman, basic respect for community standards are being ignored and a potentially violent offender is not being kept away from potential victims. 

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Paul J. Henderson
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