The father of slain Kelowna woman Aimee Parkes says his daughter's killer should be charged with first degree murder, and anything less is "disgusting."
"She was about to get married, I got an invitation and then he changed on her and started to be more open about his lifestyle," said Graham Parkes, on the first day of Tyler Quigley's trial, pointing out that the accused was a drug addict.
"He kept everything from her and kept it a secret, and when she found out she didn't want nothing more to do with him."
Parkes, he said, then what she could to extricate herself from the relationship, and that's when things spiralled out of control.
"She wanted him out," Parkes said.
"The lease (they shared) came up on April 1, 2014 and he murdered her on March 31. It was planned. He should be charged with first degree murder."
Quigley is charged with second degree murder, which he pleaded not guilty to on Monday. Instead he offered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter. That plea was rejected by Crown, which Parkes was glad for.
"It's disgusting," Parkes said. "I hope they find him guilty and no remission for 25 years."
Dozens of witnesses are scheduled to testify over the next four weeks, as Crown counsel Colin Forsyth attempts to make the case for second degree murder.
In opening statements, Forsyth said Parkes —whose toxicology report was clean— died from blood loss related to 26 stab wounds to the head, neck and upper torso.
Her body was first discovered by a Hiawatha Park property manager.
"Aimee's direct supervisor called… and she was distressed. She was concerned because Aimee did not arrive at work," testified Hiawatha Park property manager Danielle Floyd, about the morning of April 1.
"Ryan was moving out the previous night and she wanted me to go to the unit… She already contacted the police and asked me to call her back — good or bad."
Floyd then drove over to the unit and tried to let herself in the front door, which didn't open with the master key. She later learned that Parkes had changed the locks the night before as part of an ongoing effort to get Quigley to move out.
Floyd then tried the back door. The key didn't work there, either. But when she removed the key from the lock, she realized it hadn't latched so she pushed her way in.
"I hollered, 'maintenance' and then I looked down and saw a sheet," she said. "It drew my attention to the the left, to the master bedroom."
There she saw a pile of sheets and she called in the police officer who was there.
"It was clearly a body wrapped in sheets and covered in blood," she said.
The police officer at the trailer was Const. Bruce Brydon.
When he stepped in, he walked toward the mound of sheets and determined it was indeed a body, positioned on its stomach, with its head facing to the right.
The woman, who was later identified as Parkes, had her arm extended out beyond the sheet into her bedroom.
Her hair was matted with dried goods and there were cuts on the right side of her face and blood on her sweater.
Parkes no longer had a pulse, so Brydon went about securing the apartment as he waited for a paramedic and homicide police to make it to the trailer.
The trial is expected to continue for four weeks.