Murder trial in front of a jury begins for man charged with 2023 killing of 44-year-old Jesse Kennedy in Mission
Crown is relying on circumstantial evidence, extensive CCTV footage in five-week trial of John Powers who was once convicted of kidnapping
Jesse Patrick Kennedy died in hospital after receiving deep stab wounds to his neck and left lung in an incident likely witnessed by only one man on a summer day two years ago in Mission.
That man is 39-year-old John Ross Powers, according to the theory being presented to a jury of 11 women and one man in B.C. Supreme Court in Abbotsford.
Almost two-and-a-half years since Kennedy’s death and numerous pre-trial hearings, Powers’ five-week second-degree murder trial began on Thursday (Nov. 13, 2025).
Four days after the incident on July 13, 2023, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) issued a news release including a photo of 42-year-old Jesse Kennedy in hopes of advancing the investigation.
Mission RCMP were called to the busy area near the intersection of Lougheed Highway and Highway 11 before 6 p.m. that day. When they arrived, officers found Kennedy suffering from at least one stab wound. He was taken to hospital where he died of his injuries.
Powers was arrested at the scene.
IHIT’s July 17, 2023 news release included Kennedy’s photo with a plea to hear from witnesses, but also those who had had recent contact with him.
“Anyone who had seen or spoken with Mr. Kennedy in the days leading up to his death are asked to speak with IHIT,” spokesperson Sgt. Timothy Pierotti said.
Pierotti also told CTV in August 2023 that IHIT believed Powers and Kennedy knew one another.
“I don’t know the exact nature of the relationship, but I can say that this was not a random stranger attack.”
It’s unclear how many people responded to that plea, but what is clear is that there were no direct eyewitnesses to Kennedy’s death. After Justice Ian Caldwell gave lengthy direction to the jury on Thursday morning, Crown counsel introduced an overview of its case followed by an agreed statement of facts, which includes several examples of CCTV footage taken from local businesses with time stamps compared to real time.
There is, however, no evidence being presented to the jury that anyone saw Powers stab Kennedy. The case is based on circumstantial evidence looking for the jury to find the only reasonable conclusion is that Powers is responsible for Kennedy’s death.
Who is John Powers?
Powers sat in the prisoner’s box in courtroom 401 at the Abbotsford Law Courts wearing a grey suit jacket and pants with a white turtleneck underneath. The tall man sat calmly through the proceedings, frequently calling his lawyer over to whisper something into his ear.
Powers has a lengthy and serious criminal history. A year before he was arrested and charged with killing Kennedy, he was charged with stabbing a homeless man in Mission, Arthur Lonsdale on Sept. 12, 2022.
And 14 years ago he and five other men kidnapped a wealthy Metro Vancouver man in an attempt to get a million-dollar ransom. Described in court at the time as gangsters, Powers was charged along with known gang member Jesse John Margison, Troy Dax McKinnon, Van Van Vu, Derek James Stephens, and Cody Alexander Sleigh.
On the day of the abduction of Eric Low, Powers and Sleigh beat Low and forced him into a van. They didn’t know police were conducting surveillance on Powers at the time because days before, police conducted a covert search warrant of an apartment he rented to store weapons for Margison. Officers turned up five semi-automatic rifles, two other rifles, a submachine gun, a pistol, a revolver, a silencer, along with 797 rounds of ammunition, but didn't arrest him instead beginning the surveillance.
Officers witnessed the attack and performed an emergency takedown arresting the two. The four other co-accused were later arrested and all six were charged. Five of the men pleaded guilty to the kidnapping, but Margison was deemed unfit to stand trial after suffering a serious beating in prison.
Powers was sentenced to six years in prison for the kidnapping. He was later given a further four years to be served consecutively for the weapons.
Powers’ jury trial for the 2023 Mission murder continues for day two on Friday and is expected to run 27 days in total.
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Paul J. Henderson
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