'About time': Nearly 1,000 days later, 85-year-old man pleads guilty to cold-blooded Chilliwack River Valley double murder

by Paul Henderson 15 hours ago 4 min read

On what was to be day one of the trial, last minute guilty pleas from Robert Freeman to murder and manslaughter of John Kavaloff and Valerie Smith

May 4, 2026

It was in the evening on a late summer day in 2023 when Robert Amede Freeman walked out of unit 100 at the Baker Trails Mobile Home Park in the Chilliwack River Valley.

The 83-year-old carried a loaded bolt-action Cooey long rifle. He walked over to the driveway of unit 101 where his neighbours' John Kavaloff and Valerie Smith lived. Freeman lifted the rifle up, and Kavaloff's friend Gary Popoff fled into the couple's trailer and, before telling Valerie to call police, ran out a second door of the unit.

Freeman fired one shot into John Kavaloff's chest killing him. He then fired one shot at Valerie Smith hitting her in the chest, killing her.

Robert Freeman, seen here outside the Chilliwack Law Courts on various days, pleaded guilty on May 4, 2026 to killing John Kavaloff and Valerie Smith on Sept. 13, 2023 in a mobile home park in the Chilliwack River Valley. (Paul Hendreson photos, CTV News screenshot)

It was a straightforward and cold-blooded as homicides get. RCMP members arrived minutes later to secure the scene, Freeman was arrested and brought to the Chilliwack detachment where he gave a full statement and was released on bail eight days later.

Out on bail, Freeman then delayed and delayed much to the exasperation of the family and friends of Kavaloff and Smith. Freeman's first lawyer Simon Buck's delays reached the point where Buck had to be relieved because he was too busy on other cases.

Approaching Jury selection in late April, Freeman then went into a coma in March. By April 1 he had woken up and was able to continue.

He then re-elected from a trial by judge and jury to be tried by judge alone. That 20-day trial originally set for November 2025 was scheduled to begin on Monday, May 4, 2026. In a move unknown to the victims until the last minute, Freeman pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Kavaloff and the lesser-included offence of manslaughter for killing Smith.

"He was there for under three minutes," Crown counsel said in reading an agreed statement of facts regarding how long the killings took place.

Kavaloff was 58 years olf. Smith was 69.

No motive for the killings nor what words were exchanged before it happened were shared by lawyers in the agreed statement of facts.

Freeman's new lawyer Martin Finch stood by the elderly man's side in the prisoner's box on Monday as Justice Andrea Ormiston went over the plea with the 85-year-old. This is a standard procedure meant to ensure an offender was making it of his own volition, without coercion. She asked him if he understood a plea to second-degree murder comes with a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 to 25 years, and manslaughter comes with a sentence of up to life.

Friends and family of the deceased filled courtroom 201 at the Chilliwack Law Court in anticipation of day one of a trial that turned into the pleas.

There were some tears and a clear sense of relief from most of them given how long the case has gone on, some 964 days, according to the couple's son Travis Finnigan. Outside the courtroom after the hearing Monday morning, Finnigan continued with his frustration at how long Freeman was able to string the case along now making a plea that will actually be seen as a mitigating factor.

"It should be illegal to string this along for so long and then plead guilty," Finnigan said.

Crown counsel told Justice Ormiston the sentencing hearing needed to be put over to another date because the last-minute guilty plea meant they did not have victim impact statements prepared. Justice Ormiston pointed out the case has "long suffered from delay and needs to conclude." Finch also suggested the sentencing should happen as quickly as possible because his elderly client was going to be taken into custody at the Surrey Pretrial Centre, which is a difficult place for any accused.

As Freeman was taken out of the prisoner's box by the sheriffs, one of the victims' supporters exhaled in relief upon hearing the clicks of the handcuffs. As he was taken away to cells, another person said out loud, "About time."

The case was put over to Monday, May 11 for the sentencing hearing.

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