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Father and son charged in slaying of teenager
RCMP ask for help tracing truckers that had 'relationships' with young runaways
Glenn Bohn, with files from Chad Skelton
Vancouver Sun
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
CREDIT: Vancouver Sun, Courtesy photo
Chelsey Acorn
CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
Insp. Wayne Rideout displays photos of the two men charged with the murder of Chelsey Acorn.
A father and son who both call themselves Blue have been charged with the murder of 14-year-old Chelsey Acorn, a runaway whose body was discovered in a shallow grave near a Coquihalla Highway exit north of Hope almost one year ago.
Police alleged Monday the 54-year-old father and his 22-year-old-son sought out and befriended troubled teens -- including Acorn, who went missing from a foster home in Abbotsford in June, 2005.
Insp. Wayne Rideout of the RCMP's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said the two men are suspects only in Acorn's murder.
But Rideout made a public appeal for information on the movements and activities of the father and son during the past several years.
"We are aware that both men have been in contact with youth at risk in the past and have engaged in relationships with young women, runaways, street persons," Rideout said Monday during a news conference in Surrey. "It's very critical to our investigation that we get a further understanding of the scope of that contact."
To that end, police took the unusual step of making public photographs of the two accused -- Jessie Blue West, 54, and his son Dustin Moir, 22, who also uses the name Blue.
They were arrested together in North Vancouver Friday afternoon and are charged with first-degree murder.
West last lived in Victoria and his son last lived in Whistler, but Rideout said they moved around a lot and also lived in Surrey and Abbotsford during the past year.
Rideout said another reason police decided to release photographs is that West used so many aliases. Those false names include: Garry Wayne Vance, Jesse Blue Bizuk, Michael Harrison, John Angus Cameron, Richard Ciouata, Ben Jansen, Alan King and John Ford.
West's last trucking job was with Can-Am West Carriers in Abbotsford, which refused to comment.
Under the Criminal Code of Canada, a murder becomes a first-degree murder if it is "planned and deliberate," but someone can also be convicted of first-degree murder if they kill someone during a sexual assault or a sexual assault with a weapon.
Court records indicate West has been before the courts several times over the past few years.
Last year, West was charged in Surrey with sexual assault and touching a young person for a sexual purpose. West has also been charged three times over the past five years with criminal harassment, more commonly known as stalking. In all three cases, West was fined and released on a peace bond.
West was also convicted in March 2006 of uttering threats, for which he received a suspended sentence and six months probation.
Moir was charged with sexual assault in Abbotsford in 2004 but was acquitted at trial in January 2006.
Two hikers found Acorn's body on April 8, 2006 near the Carolin Mines exit of the Coquihalla.
Through forensic examination, police estimated Acorn's body was put there sometime in the fall of 2005. Police haven't revealed how Acorn died or whether she was sexually assaulted.
Rideout said police would like to talk to others who knew the father and son so they can develop a timeline or history of where they went and who they had relationships with.
"We are interested in any information -- any personal contacts, any personal involvement -- these two individuals had with any person, for any reason," Rideout said.
Anyone with information is asked to call their local police, the IHIT tip line, at 1-866-373-7886, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 if they want to remain anonymous.
Rideout said 16 investigators have been working on the case for the past year and it took that long to gather the evidence needed to lay charges.
West and Moir made their first court appearance on the murder charge on Monday at Provincial Court in Chilliwack. They remain behind bars. They next appear in court March 26.
gbohn@png.canwest.com
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