A second-degree murder charge has been laid against 32-year-old Joshua Boden, a former CFL player, in the 2009 homicide of 33-year-old Kimberly Hallgarth in Burnaby.
On Sunday, March 15, 2009, at about 7 p.m., Burnaby RCMP received a report of an unconscious woman found inside a residence in the 6700-block of Colborne Avenue. Police arrived to find Hallgarth dead inside the home with suspicious injuries and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) was called in.
Boden, who played briefly for the B.C. Lions and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, had previously faced charges of theft, domestic assault, sexual assault and assaulting a police officer.
“Today’s outcome was the result of the excellent foundational work by investigators nine years ago, which continued into the present day where we have met the high threshold to bring this file to a conclusion resulting in charges now being laid against Mr. Boden. We never wavered in our investigative efforts,” said Inspector Dave Chauhan, Acting Officer-in-Charge of IHIT. “We are grateful for the support we received from our many law enforcement partners throughout the Lower Mainland region.”
“I want to thank IHIT investigators who worked diligently over these nine years to secure a charge in the homicide of Ms. Hallgarth,” said Superintendent Chuck McDonald, operations officer for the Burnaby RCMP detachment.
If anyone has information that could further this investigation, you are asked to come forward to IHIT by calling the information line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448), or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca. Should you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Hallgarth Family Statement
First of all, we would like to thank all the members of IHIT’s Cold Case Team for all their hard work and relentless efforts on this investigation.
We have waited nearly 10 long years for this moment and are relieved that closure is in sight. Only we know the unimaginable grief that our family has been going through and the toll it has taken on every family member. What we have been going through is something that no family should ever have to experience.
Kim was a bubbly and caring person who deeply loved being the mother to Hailey and the void that her murder has left in our hearts can never be filled. She loved life and was always able to make everyone around her laugh. For those of you who knew Kim, you know that she had a heart of gold and genuinely cared about everybody she was close to. We will always remember her infectious laugh.
We recognize that nothing can bring Kim back. However, we need and deserve closure and are glad to see this next step today. We strongly urge the accused, his family, friends and acquaintances who were or are aware of any details related to this incident and withheld any information from the police to come forward now and do the right thing. We understand the accused and his family have also suffered from this senseless act of violence. We can only hope that the accused will cooperate and help everyone involved move forward.
We would also like to thank our extended family and friends for their endless love and support through this extremely difficult time.
At this time, we would like to ask the media to please respect the privacy of our family.
