A jury at the second trial of Dustin Moir has found him guilty of the first-degree murder of 14-year-old Chelsey Acorn of Abbotsford.
Moir, 30, will now serve a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. The decision was issued Friday in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.
This is Moir’s second conviction for the 2005 killing of Acorn. He received a life sentence in February 2010, but he appealed the decision and his conviction was overturned in January 2013.
That same month, Moir’s father, Jesse Blue West, was convicted of Acorn’s murder in a separate trial and also received a life sentence. He later lost his bid for an appeal.
Moir’s new trial began in mid-January of this year, at which time Crown lawyer Michael Lefebure said that Moir had confessed to undercover officers about his involvement with the killing and revealed evidence that was known only to investigators.
Acorn’s body was found April 8, 2006 by two hikers in a remote area near the Carolin Mines exit off the Coquihalla Highway outside of Hope.
She had been killed sometime between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2005.
Lefebure said the remains were found in a shallow grave and were covered with rocks.
Lefebure said that as police released information to the public after Acorn’s remains were found, they held back four key pieces of evidence: that she was found naked; roots had been cut in the grave; a large rock was found beside her head; and an autopsy revealed that she had a skull fracture above her left eye socket.
He said police launched an undercover “Mr. Big” operation in which Moir confessed to a “crime boss” his involvement with Acorn’s death, including references to the hold-back evidence.
West also confessed during a similar operation.
Also used as evidence at Moir’s new trial was a conversation secretly recorded between Moir and West as they were driven by sheriffs from the police station to the courthouse after they were arrested at the same time, but in separate places.
On the tape, they can be heard discussing the offence and the undercover operation.
