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Karen and Ayden Smith. (Photo contributed)
Update: 12:37 p.m.
Marla Smith issued a statement to media this afternoon that said she was relieved by news of the guilty pleas, which means she won’t have to testify at, and endure, a lengthy trial.
“It is my understanding that he pled out with manslaughter for my grandson Ayden, and second degree murder for my daughter Karen. I have a meeting with Crown tomorrow at 10 a.m. and I will know more at that time,” the statement read.
Smith also asked the media to respect her privacy while she awaits more information.
Posted: 11:54 a.m.
By Joe Fries
More than 100 prospective jurors were sent home this morning from the Kelowna courthouse after Nicholas Coopper entered surprise guilty pleas on charges related to the 2008 deaths of his girlfriend and her young son.
He pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of 28-year-old Karen Smith and the manslaughter death of her two-year-old son, Ayden. They died Dec. 17, 2008, at the Rutland townhouse they shared with Coopper, who often babysat the boy while Karen was at school or work.
Cooper was originally charged with two counts of second-degree murder, and it’s believed that he killed Ayden first.
A jury panel was assembled this morning on this the first scheduled day of what was to have been a four-week trial that would have heard from upwards of 40 Crown witnesses.
Coopper, who was 27 at the time of his arrest, did not speak today in court. A slim man of average height, he was dressed in an orange sweatshirt and red jogging pants, his dark hair cut short and his ankles shackled. His lawyer, Donna Turko, entered the guilty pleas on his behalf. She refused comment to reporters afterwards.
Crown counsel Colin Forsyth declined to elaborate on what led to the last-minute guilty pleas.
Negotiations, he said “are always ongoing, but it wasn’t until this morning that things came together.”
Forsyth noted that the facts of the case would be made public at Cooper’s two-day sentencing hearing in July and would not comment on the length of sentence he would be seeking.
“Ultimately, the pleas that have been taken are in the public interest,” he said. “It’s a just and proper result.”
Evidence of a jailhouse confession was expected to be heard at trial. In March, the RCMP notified media outlets that the force would be applying for a publication ban on the name of an undercover officer who was planted in a jail cell with Coopper. That confession could still form part of an agreed statement of facts.
Smith’s body was discovered in a bedroom by her mother, Marla, who learned hours later that her grandson had died as well. Marla has since founded The Ayden Project, which aims to establish a 24-hour day care in Kelowna for working parents like her daughter. Marla could not be immediately reached for comment.
Coopper’s criminal record includes a manslaughter conviction for a 2000 killing in Kimberley for which he received an eight-year jail sentence. Second-degree murder carries with it an automatic life sentence with no hope of parole for at least 10 years.
Turko did not ask for a pre-sentence report to be prepared on her client, which would present information about his background that the judge would take into consideration in crafting a sentence. Turko said she could arrange the attendance in July of a probation officer and other persons “who know my client.”
joe@kelowna.com
250-575-4303
