David Robert Hope has been found guilty of unlawfully confining, sexually assaulting and robbing two University of Victoria international students on Jan. 27, 2016.
A seven-woman, five-man B.C. Supreme Court jury deliberated for about one hour Monday afternoon before finding Hope guilty on all seven counts.
The guilty verdicts mean the jury rejected the confession of Matsqui inmate Jean Jacques Nadeau, who said he was the one who committed the crimes.
Nadeau and Hope served time together in pretrial custody on a sex offenders unit at Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre. They also spoke to each other for 15 or 20 minutes at the jail before Nadeau testified. Hope did not take the witness stand.
The Crown said that Hope drove his mother’s car from Duncan to Victoria after 4 p.m. on Jan 27, 2016.
He went to Shelbourne Street and Cedar Hill Cross Road and saw the students arriving home at their ground-floor Church Street apartment after dinner. He went around the back and saw the light come on. He ordered one of the students to open the door.
When one of the students unlocked the door, he ordered them into the bedroom and told them to undress.
Hope started to engage them in sexual activity, then stopped.
One of the students testified that she offered Hope money from her change jar.
Then she offered him $1,000 if he stopped touching her roommate.
Hope went with the students to two banks. They were able to withdraw cash at the Scotiabank in Shelbourne Plaza. They gave the money to Hope and he left. He returned to his car and immediately drove back to Duncan.
The jury heard that Hope’s DNA was found on the back door of the students’ apartment.
The jury also heard that at 7:20 p.m. that day — the exact time of the offence — Hope received a text message from his mother. The text connected with a cellphone tower on Mount Tolmie, near the students’ apartment.
On the morning of Jan. 28, 2016, Hope used his cellphone to look for jobs, court was told. But at 11:25 a.m., he started searching online for “Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers,” “Most Wanted” and local news sites.
On Jan. 30, 2016 he flew to Saskatoon. He was arrested in early April 2016.
Defence lawyer Ryan Drury told Justice Jennifer Power that Hope wanted time to collect reference letters from family and friends before he is sentenced.
Prosecutor Patrick Weir said the Crown wanted to proceed with sentencing as soon as possible.
It’s expected a date for Hope’s sentencing will be set on Wednesday in Supreme Court chambers.
