something worth reading • news, opinion & more

Many people fear stranger danger but incidents of intimate partner violence are way more common

(This is an updated version of an op-ed I wrote in 2019 with information from then in addition to information from this week in January 2025. The topic is as relevant today as it was back then or 20 years ago for that matter and, sadly, might be worse than ever - PJH)

There are a few serious and important subjects mainstream media outlets tend to stay away from covering for a couple of good reasons.

They fall into the category of dangerous he-said-she-said matters, which, without a legal decision or some sort of regulatory order to write about, end up being cans of worms not worth opening.

There are three types in particular that I’m talking about here: consumer complaints against businesses, landlord-tenant fights, and domestic disputes.

These are all important topics to be sure. They all get some coverage and more would be great. They are, however, matters that require the utmost sensitivity to cover because one side in the dispute will often claim bias or defamation, and often one side will indeed likely try to libel the other. There is rarely a safe or responsible way to cover these subjects.

They also require resources (i.e., mostly time) that most news outlets simply don’t have.

On the latter of these three matters, however, we do under-report even where the information is public and available. I’m talking about what those familiar with the court system know as “K” files, the ubiquitous intimate partner violence cases.

The tragedy seen daily in our court system is that the devil so many fear, is the devil they know. Much attention is paid to fear over random violence from drug-addicted miscreants on the streets, but rarely does that actually happen. Much more likely is the boyfriend or husband, sometimes a girlfriend or wife, who harasses, hits, hurts, threatens or otherwise criminally abuses an intimate partner.

I have covered the courts for 15 years, but I rarely delve into K files because more often than not, it’s just not in the public interest to report on one abusive partner hurting another, something that might further traumatize the victim.

But this is a serious issue in our society and warrants coverage so, well, this column is all I’ve got for now.

I check the court docket every day and it never ceases to amaze me how many K files there are on the list. Just this morning (Jan. 30, 2025) I was asked by someone connected to the victim of a domestic homicide about the court appearance of the accused. Frederick Paul Charlie is charged with killing his partner Vanessa Terry, a mother of three, on Seabird Island near Agassiz on or before April 6, 2024, the day she was found.

His appearance in Abbotsford court today is by video and is to fix a next date, nothing substantial as the slow system grinds along.

MORE: Man accused of murdering girlfriend in April 2024 appeared in Abbotsford court Thursday

Also I saw a name on the Chilliwack court list I recognize from years past, Shaun Batista. Another K file. Not knowing anything about the case, the dates and charges alone tell a tale of terror in the summer of 2023 for a woman.

Batista's charges and the dates of the alleged offences:
• June 18, 2023 – attempt to pervert/defeat/obstruct justice; uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm; unlawful confinement; assault by choking
• July 16, 2023 - uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm; unlawful confinement
• August 11,  2023 - assault by choking; uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm; mischief

Batista was due in court Jan. 30, 2025 for a pre-trial conference in advance of a scheduled five-day trial Feb. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10.

Shaun Batista is going to trial Feb. 4, 2025 for a series of serious domestic abuse charges, including assault by choking, unlawful confinement, and uttering threats from June, July and August 2023. (Crimestoppers)

A couple of names stuck out to me on one other particular day a few years ago, one was a file I was following, the other was a man who had been publicly lambasted on social media.

Shane Travis Hughes was charged with the second-degree murder of Christine Denham on Feb. 26, 2019. This is the extreme end of a K file, likely the prospective fear of all victims of intimate partner violence.

Hughes shot Denham in the stomach with a shotgun in their home. They were living together in a house on Victor Street in Chilliwack in a tumultuous, drug-filled lifestyle, when Hughes shot her on Feb. 26, 2019 during a minor argument. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in September 2022.

Christine Denham was killed by her boyfriend Shane Travis Hughes in their Victor Street home in Chilliwack on Feb. 26, 2019. (File photo)

Denham's daughter spoke at his sentencing hearing in February 2023.

“I still think of the promises she made when I was younger,” she said, adding that she admitted to sometimes being jealous of her friends who have mothers. “People don’t really know what they have until they lose it.”

Hughes apologized for his fatal act of domestic violence.

“I would like to take responsibility for my actions that led up to her death, the impact that it had for her children, for her family, for her community,” Hughes told the court. “I take full responsibility. I realize the void in their life and the life that is lost and I’ll take any justice you give me.”

He was sentenced to five years and, minus time served, that amounted to 32 more months in custody. That was 24 months ago so with statutory release, he is likely out of jail.

Another case I had my eye on back in 2019 was that of Kendall Muir, a high-risk sex offender with numerous K-file convictions on his record, a man that women in Chilliwack were warning each other about constantly on social media.

Muir, who has three aliases according to Court Services Online, Kendall Calderoni, Ken Calderoni, and Kenneth Muir, was a bad guy.

In Kamloops in 2016, Muir pleaded guilty to forcible confinement, sexual assault, assault with a weapon, possession of firearms, uttering threats to cause harm, property damage, and assault but took off before his sentencing hearing. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

Muir has a history of offences across B.C. dating back to 1996.

A large number of those offences are K files. He isn’t just a run-of-the-mill criminal. He is likely a man that women should actively avoid. His last entry on court service online is from a warrant being issued in 2020. Given his history and no more entries, I hazard to guess he's either in jail for something very serious, he left the province or he's dead.

In addition to Hughes, there were nine other K-file charges on that day in 2019 alone: assault with a weapon, uttering threats, unlawful confinement, assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault, uttering threats. However, on Tuesday this week, Jan. 28, 2025, a busy remand day in Chillliwack provincial court, I count 93 names on the list. Of those, 23 or one in every four people, are facing domestic violence charges. I should note that not all K files are men assaulting female romantic partners. Some obviously could be same-sex incidents, and two charged have names I assume are females, and there were two names that could be either.

This is terrible stuff that (mostly) women face every day from intimate partners.

We all often fear the unknown, the devil we can’t see, what we fear in the shadows. But for anyone who watches or works in the criminal justice system in any capacity it is clear that way, way too many women are forced to fear the devil they know.

-30-

Paul J. Henderson
pauljhenderson@gmail.com

facebook.com/PaulJHendersonJournalist
instagram.com/wordsarehard_pjh
x.com/PeeJayAitch
wordsarehard-pjh.bsky.social

You’ve successfully subscribed to Paul J. Henderson
Welcome back! You’ve successfully signed in.
Great! You’ve successfully signed up.
Success! Your email is updated.
Your link has expired
Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.