Unchecked escalation: Man charged with murdering girlfriend was on probation for prior domestic violence convictions
Frederick Paul Charlie accused of killing Vanessa Terry, a mother of three, on Seabird Island near Agassiz
Exactly one year before Vanessa Terry was found dead in a home on Charles Drive on Sq'éwqel (Seabird Island), 36-year-old Frederick Paul Charlie was sentenced to 18 months probation for a domestic assault.
A 33-year-old mother of three, Terry left behind devastated family and friends, many driving down from her home community of Lillooet for Charlie's court appearance in Abbotsford on Oct. 17, 2024, wearing T-shirts to honour her, holding teddy bears that contained her ashes.
Charlie appeared in court via video on Tuesday (April 8, 2025) to confirm trial dates for the murder case. A preliminary inquiry is scheduled for August 25, 2025.
Three weeks after his sentence for the January 2022 assault, on April 30, 2022, Charlie was charged with a breach of undertaking, essentially violating his probation. Five months after that, on Sept. 28, 2022, he breached conditions again, which usually means he contacted his girlfriend against court-ordered conditions not to.
In early 2023, Charlie was sentenced to 12 months and 18 months probation for the 2022 breaches and 18 months probation for the assault. On August 23, 2023, he was then charged with another domestic assault, known in the court system as 'K' files because they are designated as such.
The next day, August 24, 2023, Charlie was released with no financial obligation by administrative judge Rita S. Bowry in Chilliwack provincial court.
Eight months after that, on April 6, 2024, Terry was found dead.
Timeline leading up to a murder:
January 2, 2022 - Charlie assaulted a girlfriend, it's not clear if that was Vanessa Terry
April 30, 2022 - Charlie breached conditions of his probation
September 28, 2022 - He breached conditions of probation again
November 16, 2022 - Ordered detained by Judge Kristen Mundstock
February 17, 2023 - Sentenced to 12 months probation for April 2022 breach
March 28, 2023 - Sentenced to 18 months probation for September 2022 breach
April 6, 2023 - Sentenced to 18 months probation for the January 2022 assault
August 23, 2023 - Charlie is charged with another K file assault
August 24, 2023 - He is released from custody with no financial obligation by an administrative judge
April 6, 2024 - 33-year-old Vanessa Terry found dead
May 13, 2024 - stay of proceedings issued (charges dropped) for August 2023 assault
September 5, 2024 - Crown counsel approved one count of second-degree murder against Charlie
April 8, 2025 - He had a video court appearance to confirm trial dates
August 25, 2025 - preliminary inquiry scheduled in advance of trial
Domestic violence cases are all too common. Yesterday (April 8, 2025) for example, there were seven different people in criminal court in Chilliwack charged in K files, six with names typically given to men and one woman. And that's a low number for a Tuesday.
While it is easy to look back with hindsight and see an escalation of criminal domestic behaviour by Charlie just from his court records available online – and who knows how much went unreported or unprosecuted – the vast majority of men who beat up women don't end up killing them. All prosecutors and judges can do is try to mitigate risk, assess the evidence presented to them, and protect potential victims with conditions of release.
The "catch-and-release" rhetoric from people such as Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre makes for good talking points and riles up the base, but people working in the justice system have to work within the laws and the restrictions of the Charter.
Before the K files and the alleged murder of his girlfriend, Charlie was known to police having been convicted of various offences, including sexual interference of a person under 16 and obstruction of justice.
About a dozen family members from Lillooet, including her children, attended his hearing at the Abbotsford Provincial Courthouse on Oct. 17, 2024 with T-shirts to honour Terry and teddy bears that contained some of her ashes.
"It sucks that I'm just left with memories," Terry's sister Mia Roberts told Global News outside the courthouse that day. "It is really difficult to deal with. As a big sister she always looked out for us."
The family said they plan to attend all Charlie's court hearings and they are demanding justice for Terry.
Charlie remains in custody at the Surrey Pretrial Centre until the preliminary inquiry in advance of his murder trial in the fall.
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Paul J. Henderson
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