The “brutal, violent and senseless” murder of a 40-year-old Langford mother two years ago was a case of mistaken identity, B.C. Supreme Court heard Monday.
Angela Dalman was shot to death outside a duplex on Arncote Avenue on the evening of March 6, 2020, by a man she had never met.
Anthony Dheensaw, who has pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Dalman and the attempted murder of her friend Derrick Oke, thought Dalman was Oke’s girlfriend, Kelly Groves. The two women were similar in stature and had similar hair colour and length, prosecutor Jeni Gillings told the sentencing hearing.
“When Dheensaw saw Dalman, he mistook her for Groves. He shot at her, but the gun misfired and an unfired cartridge was ejected. He shot again and struck her in the right shoulder. She fell to the ground in the driveway,” said Gillings.
The bullet entered Dalman’s right shoulder and exited her left. She had no signs of life on arrival at Victoria General Hospital.
The loss of the devoted single mother has had a profound and devastating impact on her family and friends, said Gillings. Dalman’s son Austin, who is now 18, continues to struggle with losing his mother, who is also dearly missed by her close friends, the prosecutor said.
“They are also dealing with a great deal of anger about what happened.”
Crown and defence presented a joint submission asking the court to impose a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 14 years for Dalman’s murder and a nine-year sentence for the crime of attempted murder.
The judge is expected to impose sentence Tuesday morning.
An agreed statement of facts, read into the court record, says on the morning of March 4, Dheensaw asked Oke if he could stay at Oke’s Arncote Avenue duplex because he was in trouble. Oke didn’t know Dheensaw very well, but allowed him to sleep on a mattress in the living room.
On the morning of March 6, Oke told Dheensaw that the latter had to leave because Oke and Groves were moving. The couple left to rent a U-Haul. When Groves returned in mid-afternoon, Dheensaw was still there with a large amount of cocaine on the coffee table. Groves told him to leave, but he didn’t. Dheensaw appeared to be high on cocaine.
Oke enlisted a group of friends to help him get Dheensaw out of the home. Dheensaw was assaulted and kicked out of the house. His drugs and prescription medications were stolen. An angry Dheensaw drove away around 5 p.m., according to the agreed statement of facts.
Dheensaw ended up at a trailer on Florence Lake Road owned by a friend. Another man, Ronald Brand, was staying there. There was a rifle in the trailer. When both men left around 9:22 p.m., Dheensaw was carrying the firearm in a duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He and Brand drove to the duplex, where Oke was inside with his friends.
In the meantime, shortly before 9 p.m., Dalman arrived at Oke’s house to say goodbye and have a drink with the couple.
Dheensaw and Brand arrived at Oke’s home around 9:45 p.m. Dheensaw got out of his car holding the gun.
Dalman was outside, beside her vehicle. She had gone outside to get something and her passenger door was open.
After shooting Dalman, Dheensaw found Oke at the front of the house and pointed the gun at him. The gun misfired again. Oke heard Dheensaw cocking the gun and turned and fled. He ran down the side of the house and jumped over the fence into the backyard.
Dheensaw fired again and Oke heard and felt the bullet flying by his head.
Dheensaw was arrested at McKenzie Avenue and Blanshard Street the next day. He has been in custody ever since.
Friends remembered Dalman as an excellent mother who was caring, generous and joyful.
“To understand the loss of Angela, you’d have to understand the true light that radiated from her every day,” said friend Lisa Robertson. “She was a light in the world who would help anyone at anytime.”
Austin’s father, Cliff Cox, said his son “faces heartbreak and sadness every day.” “They were best friends. This man may be going to jail to serve his sentence … but everyone else who loved Angie is serving a life sentence.”
Defence lawyer Garen Arnet-Zargarian said his client attended Belmont Secondary and was an athletic young man who completed his pipefitting apprenticeship at Camosun College. In 2014, Dheensaw was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and has experienced not only physical but cognitive challenges.
To cope with the pain, he began using cocaine in 2015.
“I want to say how deeply sorry I am,” Dheensaw told the court. “I vow to never be involved in something like this again.”
