A B.C. Supreme Court jury deliberated for almost eight hours before delivering its guilty verdict on Thursday. The jurors avoided looking at the accused as they entered the courtroom. Some appeared close to tears.
Phelps, 30, did not react to the verdict. But at the word “guilty,” the victim’s mother, Betty Jansen, fist-pumped the air and exclaimed “yes!”
Justice David Masuhara ordered Phelps to remain in custody. A date for his sentencing will be scheduled to allow Kyle Jansen’s father and brother to travel from Ottawa to attend the hearing.
Outside court, Betty Jansen said she was relieved that justice had been served.
“The verdict brings some kind of closure, but it certainly doesn’t bring Kyle back,” she said.
“I’m going to remember that Kyle was a beautiful soul. He had a kind heart and he just didn’t deserve to die this way.”
Jansen said she has already written her victim impact statement and intends to read it in court when Phelps is sentenced.
“I’m angry at Daniel Phelps,” she said. “He needlessly took a life. I’m not sorry for him. What I’m sorry about is that he took my son’s life.”
The jury’s verdict means the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Phelps stabbed Kyle Jansen and caused his death.
The court heard that Jansen, 30, was a heroin addict who had been dealing heroin and cocaine for six months before his death. The Crown’s theory was that Phelps, who was also a heroin addict, assaulted Jansen, stole his heroin and stabbed him in the leg inside a 1994 Ford Explorer parked on Station Road in Langford.
Jansen, who was bleeding heavily, got out of the SUV and asked a stranger to call 911. The SUV sped off.
The cornerstone of the Crown’s case was a dying declaration made by Jansen to RCMP Cpl. Michael Holmes as Jansen lay on the ground. Holmes crouched beside Jansen and asked if he would tell him who had stabbed him. Jansen shook his head. Right then, a paramedic or a firefighter said Jansen wasn’t doing very well and they needed to prep him for transport.
Holmes leaned over Jansen and said: “You’re dying. Tell me who stabbed you.”
Jansen answered: “Dan Phelps.”
The defence argued there was no forensic or direct evidence that Phelps was in the SUV when Jansen was stabbed.
“We are very disappointed with the verdict and intend to seek an appeal,” said defence lawyer Ray Dieno.
