Canadian True Crime - 38 The Murder of Daniel Levesque - Part 1

Episode Date: January 15, 2019

Victoria, British ColumbiaA young musician moves from Revelstoke to Victoria, British Columbia, and meets a man called Joshua Bredo, who offers him a job.Support my sponsors! Here's where the discount codes are:www.canadiantruecrime.ca/sponsorsPodcast recommendations:Rusty HingesLagered Tales podcastNighttime Podcast: Taylor Samson episodesJoin my patreon for $2 a month to get ad-free, early-release episodes:www.patreon.com/canadiantruecrimeCredits:Research, writing, narration, music arrangement: Kristi LeeAssistance from Stacey Thur, Joel Thur, and Jordan BonaparteAudio production: Erik KrosbyDisclaimer voiced by the host of Beyond Bizarre True CrimeAll credits and information sources will be found on the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca.Support the show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My name's John Weir. You don't know me, but you're gonna, because I know the people that have been watching you, learning about you. They know you've done well for yourself, that people like you and trust you. Trust you. Now imagine what they're gonna do with all that information that you've freely shared with the whole world. Now imagine what they're gonna do with all the information you have at it. Yeah, I'll be in touch. Radical starring Keifer Sutherland, new series now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus. Hello listeners, Jordan from The Nighttime Podcast here.

Christie generously offered me a moment to tell you about a series of episodes I'm presently releasing on my show Nighttime. She thought you may be interested. If you aren't familiar with The Nighttime Podcast, I'm Jordan, the host, and like Canadian True Crime on The Nighttime Podcast, I also cover Canadian crime stories. However, rather than doing it as a narrated story the way Christie does, I generally structure my episodes around interviews and other audio sources. Most recently, I've been releasing a series of episodes covering one of Nova Scotia's highest profile murders and most sensational trials. That being the murder of a local university student named Taylor Sampson in the trial of the accused in the case, William Sandison, who was charged with Taylor's murder only days before he was to start medical school.

In the following clip, you'll hear my guest, the author and journalist, Kayla Hounsell, describe the case. What makes this case so unique to the point that you are so willing to immerse yourself in it? I think it's because of who it involves. So we have an accused who was just days away from starting medical school. He wanted to be a doctor, so he went from pledging to save lives to taking a life. His victim was also a very promising young person and not just the killer and the victim, but all of their friends. We saw this lineup of young, attractive, intelligent university students being dragged through the Canadian justice system. I've spent a lot of time covering court. These are not the people that we see in court.

So I thought that was very rare. It didn't make sense to me and I wanted to try to make sense of it. You can find my coverage of Taylor Sampson's murder and many other Canadian stories on the Nighttime Podcast. You can subscribe to Nighttime on Apple Podcasts or wherever else you listen to Canadian True Crime. Before we begin, a quick update on Dylan Millard. As you recall when I last left off, he'd been found guilty of the first-degree murder of his father, Wayne Millard. At the time, he was already serving two consecutive life sentences for the murders of Tim Bosmer and Laura Babcock, a total of 50 years. And now he was likely to get a third life sentence another 25 years. But the question was, would this be consecutive like the last two sentences or served concurrently, meaning at the same time?

On December 18th, 2018, Justice Maureen Forstell sentenced Dylan Millard to another 25 years to be served consecutively. This means he'll serve a total of 75 years in jail and won't be eligible for parole until 2088. He'll be 102 years old. This is the longest sentence ever handed down without parole eligibility in the province of Ontario by a five-year margin. Justice Forstell said that she found Dylan was capable of gaining the trust of friends, relatives and strangers. Mr Millard has, however, used his ability to gain such trust as a vehicle for planned and deliberate killings. While I accept that rehabilitation cannot ever be completely disregarded, the hope of the rehabilitation of Dylan Millard, in light of his pattern of offending, is so faint that it plays little role in the determination of a fit sentence. As Dylan Millard was led out of the courtroom in shackles, the family members of his victims clapped loudly. So, that's it. Dylan Millard will never be released. I, for one, am very thankful for that, and I'm sure that the families of his victims are too.

Wayne Millard, Tim Bosmer and Laura Babcock. Now, on with today's episode. This case has a lot of twists and turns, and I'm excited to be collaborating with the Nighttime Podcast for the first time in a two-part episode. This episode is the first part, and then Nighttime takes over with part two, which will be released in a few days. This podcast contains coarse language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. It was August the 3rd, 2011, and the location was Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia, situated on Vancouver Island. At about 5pm, a 26-year-old man from a downtown apartment building called 911, saying he'd been stabbed in the stomach, arm, and head. He went on to say the man who stabbed him was a person who worked for him, and they were doing cocaine in the apartment and got into an argument, although he said he didn't know why this happened. He said he responded to the attack by hitting his assailant in the head in self-defense.

After just a few minutes, paramedics and many police attended the scene, firstly having troubles accessing the building because of its security system. Finally, a resident leaving the building let them in. When they arrived at the apartment, they found it unlocked so were able to get in easily. But they didn't know what they would be greeted with, and knew there was likely a suspect armed with a knife somewhere, so came in with pistols drawn. The scene they were greeted with was what one constable described as chaotic. There were blood smears and stains on all five walls and on the floor in the entranceway. And inside the apartment, two men lay bleeding. One was laying face down on the couch with his face down in pillows and blankets. One officer described his position as odd. It looked like he wouldn't be able to breathe from that position. Two officers repositioned him onto the floor and turned him over. He was a younger man and they could see that his face was grey and his lips were blue. He wasn't breathing. The man was ventilated and given some drugs that can reverse the effects of a drug overdose, just in case.

The paramedics performed CPR and were able to get a rhythm, pulse and blood pressure back, but the man was still unconscious. The other man, the 26-year-old who made the call, appeared to be critically injured with a lot of blood flowing from his chest, arm and head. Near him lay the head of a hammer. At first, the paramedics were concerned because they didn't know how big his puncture wounds were, but he was at least clearly conscious and able to talk. Several paramedics and police asked him what happened and each time he said, I don't know. He was described as being disoriented and confused. Both men were taken to Victoria General Hospital, the younger one unconscious and in critical condition, and the older one conscious and claiming self-defence. This is Christy and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 38. The younger man was 20-year-old Daniel Lavec, a talented musician. Just three months beforehand, he'd moved from his hometown of Revelstoke, a small city in British Columbia, to Victoria, the capital city of the province. He was extremely close with his family, but he was an artsy type, a talented poet and musician. He loved to play guitar, write music and sing, and very much wanted to advance his career in the larger city.

So he decided the time had come for him to spread his wings. His family supported and encouraged him. As with most 20-year-olds, Daniel had a dream that he was following, but the planning was a little spontaneous. He arrived in Victoria with not a lot of money, so getting a job was high on the priority list. At first, he was disappointed when he thought he'd been offered a job, but it didn't pan out. He asked his mother, Stacey, to loan him a few dollars to tide him over, but it turns out that he didn't need it. The next day was June 15, 2011, and Daniel inquired at a 7-Eleven convenience store about a job. The manager in training introduced himself as Joshua Buxton. He was 26 years old. Joshua was impressed with Daniel and immediately hired him to work in the store. As Joshua trained Daniel on the job, the two got to know each other and soon became friends who hung out together outside of work. Daniel was easy to get along with. He was friendly and easygoing and saw the positive in everything and everyone. He was sensitive to people around him, and it was obvious that he was a loyal friend. It's easy to see why Joshua was impressed. Daniel excitedly told his family back home about his new job and how much he liked his new boss.

He told them that Joshua took him for dinner at a high-end restaurant to thank him for catching on so fast at the job. He was thrilled. Soon, the two were sharing personal stories and quickly becoming friends. Joshua told Daniel he had a fiancé in Calgary who just broke up with him for no reason. He was heartbroken. Daniel recounted to his family how he helped Joshua through his breakup. Not only had he made a new friend, but he was enjoying life. He'd fallen in love with Victoria and enjoyed living in the bigger city with its bustling art scene. He was sharing an apartment with a friend called Jackson and they were looking for their next place to move to. It was an exciting time. Things were looking good for his artistic endeavours too. Daniel was thrilled to have a piece of his poetry selected to be published in a local street magazine in Victoria. He started playing guitar and singing at the open mic night once a week at the Baja Surf Grill, a busy downtown restaurant and bar at the time. The manager remembered Daniel well because he was always a welcome presence on the stage during the open mic nights. People loved him.

He was a regular customer there too, often going for tacos and either beer or a rum and coke. Joshua would often accompany him and to the manager they seemed like best friends. Joshua lived in a downtown condo and told Daniel he earned a six-figure income between the 7-Eleven manager job as well as some political campaign work he did on the side. He told Daniel that he came from a wealthy family. They owned the condo he lived in and his parents had law firms in Victoria and Calgary until his father recently passed away from cancer. He told Daniel about a string of bad things that had happened in his family after his father's death and how he'd been expected to be the glue that kept the family together. Joshua felt a weight on his shoulders and Daniel felt so badly for him. He told his mum Stacey that several times Joshua had texted Daniel to say he was having suicidal thoughts and Daniel sensitively talked him off the ledge. Daniel was that kind of friend.

About two and a half months after they'd met, Joshua told Daniel that he had great news. He'd been able to get Daniel an entry-level position at the law firm in Victoria, one that his mother owned. He explained that this was a good start for Daniel and would eventually result in a high income and excellent future prospects. Daniel was thrilled. He told his family the details of this exciting new opportunity and that he was looking forward to the orientation at the firm that had been scheduled. Unfortunately, Joshua told him that that orientation date was postponed, but told him that a new date had been scheduled not long after. It was to be on August the 3rd, 2011. That morning, Daniel had been texting back and forth with his mum Stacey, telling her how he was excited about the orientation, particularly the fact that he was going to meet Joshua's mother, the high-powered lawyer. He told his mum that after the interview, he had plans to meet his roommate Jackson downtown, but promised to get back to her later on to tell her how it went.

They hung up at about 2.30pm. But Stacey didn't hear back from Daniel that day, something she thought was weird, but dismissed. Just a few hours later, at 5pm that day, Joshua was dialing 911 from his apartment, saying that Daniel had stabbed him and it hit Daniel on the head in self-defense. When the paramedics arrived, both men were bleeding. Joshua was conscious with stab wounds, and Daniel was found face down on the couch, unconscious, with a head wound. He needed to be resuscitated. The two men were taken to hospital, but Daniel's condition didn't get any better, and after two hours, he went into cardiac arrest. The medical staff tried to resuscitate him again, but it was too late.

20-year-old Daniel Lavec was pronounced dead at 7.44pm on August 3, 2011. As for Joshua, it turned out that his stabbing injuries weren't anywhere near as bad as the blood made them look, so he was released from hospital less than an hour later. But by now, police had started to suspect that things did not happen as he claimed, so he was taken straight to the station for questioning. There, he repeated the same story he gave on the 911 call. He'd been stabbed and hit Daniel on the head in self-defense. According to Joshua, he was not the aggressor. Daniel was. The police didn't buy it for a second, but needed to find evidence, a motive, the truth about what had happened.

What was this all about? The man that Daniel knew as Joshua Buxton was now the prime suspect in his death. In the meantime, the RCMP needed to notify Daniel's family. From his ID, they were able to get his address. They went to the apartment he shared with his friend Jackson, who had given up waiting for him downtown after trying to call multiple times. Of course, as Jackson was calling, Daniel lay dying face down on the couch. Jackson put the police in touch with Daniel's parents in Revelstoke. Stacy and Stephen had divorced when Daniel was young, and the Revelstoke RCMP went to Stacy's place first.

Daniel had two much younger siblings, 12-year-old sister Lainey, who had stayed the night with relatives, and 15-year-old brother Joel, who answered the door when the police knocked at 8am. Daniel's family were told that he had passed away, and that it looked like it was murder. Stacy screamed into the street. Joel remembered that she screamed a noise he'd never heard before, something almost not human. A howl of a mother who has just lost her baby. As the police investigation continued, a memorial service for Daniel Lavec was held six days after his death in his hometown of Revelstoke. Over 1,200 people gathered to remember the talented musician, and even though the service was held in the Civic Centre to anticipate a large crowd, they still spilled out into the hallways and grounds. So many people wanted to talk about their memories of Daniel that the service went for over three hours.

Everyone agreed that he had a great sense of humour and was often referred to as hilarious. His mum Stacy spoke about his love of music and how he could sing before he could even talk. His report card from his swimming lessons once said, quote, Daniel needs to sing less and swim more. Daniel was described by his mother as someone that everybody loved, quote, he was full of compassion and caring and he was loyal to a fault. She remembered that that morning was hot and sunny, but while Daniel's casket was being transported to the hearse after the service, a massive storm rolled in with gusts of angry wind and crashing thunder so loud that people had to cover their ears. Stacy remembered that it seemed like the earth was so angry. Daniel's family were relieved when a charge of second degree murder was sworn against Joshua Brado. That's his real name, not the Joshua Buxton that Daniel knew him as. He was detained while the police continued to investigate and wait for Daniel's autopsy results.

As it turns out, the 26-year-old assistant manager called Joshua Brado had gone by several other names, including Joshua Baba, Josh Chartier and Josh Mitchell, and it didn't take long before the media dug up some salacious information on him. Joshua Tyler Brado was born in 1985 in Prince George, a city in British Columbia. As a teenager, he showed an interest in politics and in October of 2001 when he was just 16, he appeared in the press as a local spokesperson for the young Liberals of Canada. He graduated high school and in 2005 he finished community college with a diploma in business administration. He was involved in his first controversy not long after he graduated when he was working on the campaign of local conservative MP Dick Harris. At the time, Joshua made some outrageous accusations about the politician, including saying that he had committed government election fraud. The RCMP investigated the allegations and found the politician not guilty. It turns out that Joshua was just stirring trouble and spreading rumors. The following year, 2007, going under the name of Joshua Baba, he offered to set up a foundation in Prince George to honour Canadian soldier Corporal Matthew McCully, who was killed in Afghanistan.

Joshua offered to donate the first $10,000 with his own savings and went and organised a fundraising gala dinner to raise more. He told the McCully family that he had secured the then Governor-General Michelle Jean to attend the gala. It was quite a coup and the McCully family were looking forward to it. Only a few days before the gala event was due to be held, Joshua abruptly cancelled it, leaving the McCully family with over $2,000 worth of bills associated with the failed event. They were also told by the RCMP that the Governor-General had never agreed to attend. It was all lies. Matthew McCully's family were angry and humiliated. His father Ron told the citizen in 2008, Things happened all in the name of our foundation that muddied the name of a Canadian hero, my son, who gave his life in service for our country. But Joshua was long gone by that time and onto his next scam. He left Prince George and went to Calgary where the same thing happened. He offered to set up a campaign to fight crime, again offering to put up $10,000 of his own money, and that went the way of the last one.

The next year, 2009, Joshua was able to talk himself into being the campaign manager for the Calgary Meryl campaign George Datimo. But it wasn't long before the campaign heard about Joshua's past controversies and frauds, and he was fired, taking down the candidates' whole campaign with him. He then sweet-talked his way into the position of communications director for a brand new political party in Alberta called Wild Rose Alliance Party. That didn't last long before he surfaced in southeast British Columbia under the name Joshua Chartier, helping local conservative politician David Wilkes with his campaign. But when Joshua discovered that the MP was actually a former RCMP officer, he was out of there. David Wilkes told the media that he was left to pay the bill for signs that Joshua had ordered that he didn't know about. Quote, I know Joshua came off as someone that potentially had the ability of making things happen, but the fact of the matter is, I don't think he could make much happen. Joshua then spread the word that he was putting on two community events for the city of Cranbrook. When the city found out, they quickly issued press releases to warn the public that they actually had no affiliation with these events, or with Joshua, the man organising them.

In 2010, he moved on again, this time to Victoria, where he began working at 7-Eleven, the store that he would end up managing. And in June of the following year, his path, and Daniel Lavex's path, would cross when Daniel came into the store inquiring about a job. So the police had laid a second degree murder charge on Joshua Brado, and it looked like Daniel's family might see justice for his murder. But they were soon to receive a shocking blow. Three months later, the Crown decided to stay the charge, meaning they had reasons not to pursue it anymore. There were some issues with Daniel's autopsy. Pathologist Dr Carol Lee determined that Daniel had been struck twice on the back of the head, and that the injuries were consistent with those inflicted by a hammer. But in her report, she stated that this was not Daniel's cause of death.

He had died from cocaine toxicity, she noted. Not the violent blows to the head. This was news to his family. Speaking to the media, Daniel's mother Stacey Thur said she didn't believe it. Quote, he just coincidentally happened to OD after being hit on the head with a hammer? To make matters worse, the Crown decided that there now wasn't enough evidence to pursue the charge of second degree murder, so stayed the charge to buy some more investigation time. Joshua Brado was released from custody. Daniel's family were devastated.

Joshua had been involved in so many scams and controversies, culminating in his direct involvement in Daniel Lavec's death. Yet here he was, being released back into the community. His mother Stacey wrote in her blog, My heart is broken yet again. But the family stood together, firm in their resolve that they would get justice for Daniel. He wouldn't be forgotten. And he wasn't. His friends had already organized to have 2,000 red bracelets produced so that people would wear them and remember him wherever they went.

The writing on each bracelet said, Love for Daniel. His 12 year old sister Lainey said at the time, Do you know how happy I will feel if I'm walking in the grocery store or anywhere in town and I see someone wearing Daniel's bracelet? The bracelets and the symbol of support shown by those who wore them gave the family much comfort in their time of grief and frustration. Daniel's friends and high school music teacher also organized a benefit concert in his name, where his friends all had sets and sang his favorite songs. The concert raised more than $15,000 for a new music scholarship, the Daniel Lavec Memorial Scholarship,

which gifts $500 each year to a deserving graduate. In May of 2012, 80 of Daniel's closest family and friends celebrated what would have been his 21st birthday. Before their meal, they released bunches of red balloons into the sky, each balloon with a note of love attached to it. During the moving celebration, Daniel's family and friends laughed and shed tears as they remembered his life and achievements. He never got to see his 21st birthday. In August of 2012, 8 months after Joshua Brado was released and a year after the bloody altercation at the condo that ended Daniel's life, the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit announced it wanted to use an independent pathologist to review the original autopsy findings. As this review happened, RCMP officers continued to investigate the case and follow all leads to try and get the evidence they needed to arrest Joshua again.

In December of 2012, on the one-year anniversary of Joshua Brado's release from custody, Daniel's family organized a candlelight vigil in memory of their boy and to pray for justice. His mother, Stacey Thur, wrote on Facebook, quote, The thing we want most is accountability. We want the investigators to look at the case with fresh eyes and see what maybe isn't obvious to them at the moment. Over 3,000 people attended the vigil to show their support. Their wish was granted. Just days later, the RCMP had a big announcement. They had arrested Joshua Brado again and this time charged him with first degree murder.

There was new evidence. The RCMP had discovered that over 50 text messages had been deleted from Joshua Brado's phone just before it dialed 911. And the other piece of evidence was in relation to the review of Daniel's first autopsy. As you remember, it had been arranged after concerns that the pathologist may have disregarded factors that supported a homicide charge, as opposed to Daniel's cause of death being determined to be cocaine toxicity. No information has been made publicly available on what was in the new report, but much can be implied by the fact that the charge increased from second degree murder to first degree murder. A year after that, the RCMP announced that Joshua Brado was being charged with two additional offenses, attempting to sexually assault Daniel Lavec and also for unlawfully confining him that day. Daniel's family were again shocked. His mother Stacy said, quote, we didn't have any idea that they were going to lay further charges.

We just can't imagine what it must have been like for Daniel. On January the 28th, 2015, three and a half years after Daniel's death, Joshua Brado went on trial for the first degree murder, attempted sexual assault, and unlawful confinement of Daniel Lavec. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges. The Crown presented its theory to the jury, and it was surprising. Daniel and Joshua were friends, but messages between Joshua and some of his other friends indicated that his intentions towards Daniel were not platonic. In one message, he said that he was falling hard for Daniel. The family law firms didn't exist, the Crown said. Joshua's parents were not lawyers, and therefore there was no job for Daniel.

The Crown also told the jury that police searched a computer found at Joshua Brado's house and found that the user had been looking for information on how to knock someone out cold. The court heard testimony from Daniel's mother, Stacy Thur, who said that she and Daniel were in contact almost daily, and she thought it was weird when she didn't hear back from Daniel after his first day at his new job. A neighbour of Joshua Brado's in the same condo building testified, saying that she heard vibrations in her kitchen wall and hallway, as well as a couple of loud bangs coming from the neighbouring unit. She heard a man's voice say, let me go, just let me go, and not long after that she heard sirens, and knew they were likely coming up to her floor. The recording of the 911 call that Joshua made was played for the court. Daniel's family were openly distressed by hearing the 14-minute call, with some shedding tears. The jury heard testimony from the first responders to the scene, including paramedics and police, who described how they found the condo and the two men, and how at first they believed Joshua's story that he was the victim. After a month of testimony, the trial stalled because of legal issues.

And a few weeks later, in March of 2015, the judge declared it a mistrial and discharged the jury. He told them that it had become apparent to him that the matter was not properly ready for trial. Quote, there are simply too many unresolved issues that require the jury's absence, and there are still too many other issues in the future for this trial to continue. The actual reasons for the mistrial weren't given at the time due to a publication ban, but it came out later that one of the reasons was the crown's unintentional late disclosure of forensic computer evidence, which would have a ripple effect on the rest of the trial. Whatever the reason for the mistrial, this was yet another blow to Daniel's family. They wondered if they would ever see justice, and the blows didn't stop. There were multiple hiccups with setting a new trial date after that. A new trial date was scheduled, but had to be adjourned because of scheduling conflicts with the pre-trial applications.

Yet another trial was scheduled, but again, it became clear that the pre-trial applications were still behind schedule, so the trial was adjourned to the fall and winter of 2017. By this time, the crown was becoming worried that Joshua Brado would end up walking free because of what they referred to as the Jordan decision. A Supreme Court of Canada decision regarding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms stating that any person charged with an offence has the right to be tried within a reasonable time. In 2016, the Supreme Court decided that there should be a sealing of up to 30 months between the charges and the trial. That's less than three years. With this case being in limbo for almost six years, the crown worried that Joshua Brado might latch onto that precedent, proved that he wasn't afforded a speedy trial and successfully have his charges dropped. This couldn't happen. Finally, the crown filed a new indictment. It was a plea deal. After six years in denial, Joshua Brado agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter.

My name's John Weir. You don't know me, but you're gonna, because I know the people that have been watching you, learning about you. They know you've done well for yourself, that people like you and trust you. Now imagine what they're gonna do with all that information that you freely shared with the whole world. Now imagine what they're gonna do with all the information you have at it. Yeah, I'll be in touch. Radical starring Kiefer Sutherland. New series now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus. I chose Squarespace because it's an all-in-one platform that seamlessly helps me achieve multiple goals. It's important to have a website that looks good, and I was inspired by Squarespace's wide selection of clean and modern templates.

They can be easily customized with pre-built layouts and flexible design tools to fit your needs. And you can even browse the category of your business to see examples of what others have done. I use the built-in blogging tools to create a new page for each episode, and there are so many intuitive options from embedding an audio player so listeners can stream episodes to scheduling posts to be published on a certain date, an easily moderated comment section and automatically displaying recent episodes on the homepage. Every Squarespace website and online store includes SEO tools to help you maximize your visibility in search engines. And I love the powerful insights I can get from the analytics tools,

helping me better understand who's visiting the site, where they came from and how they're interacting with it. Do you have a passion project or business idea or something to sell? Go to squarespace.com.ctc for a free trial, and when you're ready to launch, use offer code CTC to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com.ctc with offer code CTC and get your passion project off the ground today. Music In June of 2017, the Victoria Courthouse was full of Daniel Lavec's friends and family, many of whom had travelled from his hometown of Revelstoke.

They came to witness Joshua Brado plead guilty to manslaughter and find out exactly what he said happened. Joshua was now 32 years old. Daniel's mother Stacey Thur, as well as his younger brother Joel and sister Lainey, sat in the front row alongside his father Stephen and his wife Lisa. The Crown presented a statement of facts that the defence agreed to. This was Joshua Brado's account of what happened and why he was pleading guilty to manslaughter. In the statement of facts, Joshua confirmed that he and Daniel met when he hired him to work at the 7-Eleven. Daniel thought that Joshua was a friendly new boss who might be up for some fun in Vancouver.

But Joshua felt a growing sexual attraction to Daniel, even though Daniel was openly straight. After just a few days, Joshua told a friend that he was falling for Daniel. He texted to another friend that he was out with his straight younger bud, quote, he is straight and thinks I am too haha. Daniel had no idea of any of this. Joshua had fed him the story about having his heart broken after breaking up with his fiancee in Calgary and he was now ready to party and meet new girls. But it was all lies.

The truth was, he had a girlfriend that he lived with and she owned the apartment. He led her to believe that he was heterosexual and that they were on track to get married. One day, Joshua brought some alcohol and cocaine for them to try. As is typical of people in between school and full-time work, Daniel was in an experimental time of his life and wasn't adverse to trying drugs on occasion. Over the next few weeks though, Joshua brought more and they began to use on an increasing basis as they hung out together. As time went on, Joshua developed an unhealthy infatuation for Daniel. He was desperate for a sexual relationship with the musician

and continued telling him lies about his life and family in order to impress him. Joshua told Daniel he considered him to be like family, like a little brother. He said he earned $60,000 per year working at 7-Eleven and another $60,000 a year working on a political campaign for the mayor's office. He excitedly announced to Daniel that he'd managed to secure a pay rise for him at 7-Eleven. In reality though, Joshua earned considerably less at 7-Eleven than he said and received only a small token payment for the work he did on the mayoral campaign. And when Daniel's promised pay rise didn't materialize,

Joshua gave various excuses as to why there was never any pay rise to begin with. Joshua then told Daniel about his wealthy family of law firm owners, another lie. In fact, Joshua had no lawyers in his family whatsoever and he was completely estranged from the family that he had. As for the downtown apartment he said his wealthy family paid for, it belonged to his fiance. But before Daniel came over, he staged the apartment to look like more of a bachelor pad, removing all visible traces of his fiance to match the lies he'd told. Joshua said he was desperate for Daniel's attention and respect as both a boss and a friend.

Daniel, always friendly, easygoing and trusting, believed Joshua's lies and came to view him as one of his best friends. Joshua reveled in the younger man's admiration and respect, further fueling his sexual attraction. Joshua gave Daniel gifts and arranged opportunities for him in an effort to keep him close and spend time with him. Joshua regularly paid for dinners and drinks and assisted Daniel with money for food, cigarettes and transportation. He also arranged and paid for Daniel to have a recording and production session at a Victoria Music Studio. As a struggling musician in a new town, Daniel was extremely grateful for the enthusiastic support from his new friend, who clearly had the means to afford such generosity. About two and a half months after they met was when Joshua told Daniel he'd secured him that entry-level job at one of his family's law firms.

Daniel couldn't believe his luck, a new job and a great friend. But concealed behind this web of deception was the fact that Joshua was physically attracted to Daniel and hoped for a relationship. To this end, Joshua admitted he misled and manipulated Daniel, abused his position at work, promising things he couldn't deliver and also alienated his own fiance, who had no idea of the secret life he was concealing. As Joshua's infatuation with Daniel grew and he began to realize that Daniel would only ever see him as a platonic friend, he became frustrated and depressed, he said, and began using drugs and alcohol in escalating regularity. By the end of July 2011, Joshua was terminated from 7-Eleven because of poor performance issues. Things had slid downhill in his work life but also his personal life.

His girlfriend was fed up with him too and ordered him to move out of her apartment. That was a simple task because he barely had anything to his name, just clothes and a few small items. Having lost his job and his home, Joshua had hit rock bottom. His world was becoming undone. But he needed to find a way to ensure that Daniel stayed in it. The lies continued. Joshua told Daniel he'd purchased a trip to Cuba with an ex-girlfriend, but she had cancelled, so he offered the ticket to Daniel as a gift. He also told him that this trip would be after the law firm orientation, which had just been rescheduled. Two pieces of good news for Daniel. Joshua told him to come to his house the day of the orientation and then hang out to celebrate before it started in the afternoon. Joshua said that over the next few days he did a lot of cocaine.

He knew that his cover was blowing off rapidly and all of the lies he'd told were soon going to catch up with him. The trip to Cuba, the job opportunity with the fake law firm thanks to his family of lawyers who were fakes. August the 3rd arrived, Daniel's orientation day. He was beyond excited when he arrived at Joshua's apartment beforehand as they'd planned. But Joshua had crushing news. The orientation had now been cancelled, he told Daniel. He produced various excuses and then a bunch of cocaine that he'd brought earlier, presumably to lessen the blow. Together they used it. After a few hours, Daniel began to question Joshua about the orientation session that had been cancelled, their upcoming trip to Cuba and the various other stories Joshua told that weren't adding up. Joshua's excuses were weak and unbelievable and it didn't take long before Daniel realized that he'd been lying to him about almost everything. He was understandably upset that he'd been manipulated to such a degree and the two men began arguing.

Daniel told Joshua that the friendship was over and then tried to leave the apartment. Joshua rushed over to Daniel and grabbed him to stop him from leaving. But because he was much heavier and larger than Daniel, he was able to gain control even though Daniel was thrashing trying to get out of his graph. Joshua said that the thought of Daniel leaving the apartment and telling all his friends, former 7-Eleven co-workers and management about all of the lies he'd told, suddenly hit him. He spied a hammer and grabbed it. He struck Daniel on the head three times, so forceful that the hammer broke into two pieces. One of those times Daniel was attempting to cover his head with his hands, so his hands bore the brunt of that blow. After the hammer attack, Daniel's head was bleeding profusely, but he refused to give up. Literally fighting for his life now, he tried again and again to get out of the apartment.

He broke away from Joshua's grasp and made a run for the front door, but the man caught up to him. They struggled in the doorway, but Daniel's slim frame was no match for Joshua and he physically couldn't leave. As they were fighting, Daniel was still bleeding profusely from his head, but he refused to give up. Joshua pushed him into the walls around the doorway, marking them with his blood. The fight was so intense that the neighbors heard bangs and vibrations in the walls. They made it back to the doorway, and again Daniel tried to open the door, saying, Let me go, let me go, which was heard by one of the neighbors. Leaving blood stains around the deadbolt, he eventually managed to move the door handle a few times,

partially opening the door, yelling out, Help me, help me, to anyone that might be able to hear. Apparently no one did. Joshua stopped Daniel from opening the door any further before pulling him back into the apartment and slamming the door. Daniel had bled out a lot by this time and fell to the living room floor unconscious. His head hit the floor and he continued to bleed out. Joshua said he ran into the kitchen and grabbed a large knife. Thinking quickly, he decided he was going to have to make this look like self-defense, so he attacked himself with a knife in the arm, stomach and head.

Daniel was still lying unconscious on the living room floor, so Joshua picked him up and placed him on the couch, face down. He then took the kitchen knife and placed it on the floor close to Daniel's right hand, in an effort to frame him for the attacks that he had inflicted on himself. He then lay down and called 911. Just hours later, Daniel Lavec was pronounced dead at a hospital. So, that was the story that Joshua Brado had admitted to. And despite the original charges of attempted sexual assault and unlawful confinement, this was likely all that Daniel's family were going to find out about what happened to him.

It was time for sentencing. At the time, Joshua had served four years and nine months in custody. And as we've seen before, in this situation, the person found guilty gets credit of one and a half days for everyday spent in custody before being sentenced. What this meant was that the four years and nine months Joshua served already was recalculated to equal seven years and two months. In exchange for pleading guilty, Joshua agreed to a joint submission on his sentence, meaning the crown and the defence decided on the same recommendation,

which was likely to be more lenient than it would be after the ordeal of a trial. The agreed sentencing proposal was that Joshua Brado should only serve another two years, less one day in prison, followed by three years of probation. After the sentencing proposal was presented, it was time for the court to hear the victim impact statements. They were read by various members of Daniel's family. His mother Stacy wiped away tears as she said it would be impossible to put into words the impact of Daniel's death. She was forever lost. She said that this wasn't the only tragedy her family had been through

because Daniel had another little brother who died when he was young. Daniel was the second son that she and his father Stephen had buried now. At the time, Daniel was the one who gave her a reason to keep going. Three years later, she had two more children, Joel and Lainey, and told the court how Joel was the one who stood with her and wiped away her tears after the police broke the news that Daniel had been taken from them. Stacy said that Daniel had a pure heart. Quote, he helped everyone and never had an enemy in his life

until he was killed by a man he thought was his friend. No matter how hard I try, I will never be the person I once was. Daniel's father Stephen spoke about how the dramatic turns of the lengthy court process had devastated the community. He said he was broken now, a different man than he was before. Daniel's little brother Joel, just 15 when his brother was murdered, told the court that Daniel was his hero, his mentor and big brother and the person he wanted to be when he grew up. Quote, I don't remember Daniel ever fighting with me.

He was five years older than me but never once bullied me or pushed me around. He protected me and made me feel safe. Daniel's little sister Lainey also gave her own impact statement. She was 12 when Daniel was murdered and said it was hard to be forced into grief at such a young age. She said after Daniel died, she had frequent headaches and anxiety attacks which caused her to skip many days of school. Quote, I have nightmares about Daniel's death almost every night. I have not had a restful sleep since he died.

Nothing anyone can do can give me back my innocence. The judge asked Joshua Brado if he had anything to say before he was sentenced. He said he was profoundly sorry. Quote, I was a pathetic, horrible, cocaine addicted coward. Daniel did not deserve to die. I deserve to die that day. Death is inexcusable. My actions are unforgivable. In sentencing, the judge said that, quote, the impact of the offence has been devastating to all those who knew and cared for Daniel Lavec. He then agreed to the sentence proposal.

Joshua Brado would only serve another two years, less one day in prison, followed by three years of probation. Daniel Lavec's mother, Stacy Thur, told the media that no sentence would have been long enough. Quote, however, we are all very thankful that this legal process is over. It has been a long and gruelling six years, not at all what Daniel deserved. She went on to say that what made Daniel so special also got him killed. Quote, Daniel loved everyone. He gave everybody a chance. He always said that everyone deserved a friend. Stacy wasn't surprised that Joshua Brado was able to fool Daniel because

he played with his sympathies, his caring, his friendly nature. He had a bounce in his step and arms wide open for anybody. Daniel was always supporting the underdog. Stacy thanked the friends and family who supported them in their six year quest for justice. Quote, we can now go on to focus on Daniel's beautiful life without focusing on his brutal death. We'll never forget, but we will move on. It's what Daniel would have wanted. That was in June of 2017. With Joshua's additional two years in jail, he would have been eligible for release in June of 2019. But this isn't what happened. There is more to this story and another shocking blow for Daniel's poor family.

In part two, Jordan from the Nighttime Podcast speaks with Daniel's family and finds out exactly what happened and where things are at right now. They'll also talk about the fact that there was another family tragedy when Daniel was only three years old. Their experiences with the Canadian justice system after Daniel's murder and more. You won't want to miss this episode because Daniel's family has a lot to say. The episode will be released in a few days. You can subscribe to the Nighttime Podcast right now to make sure you hear it first and I'll also be putting it on my feed after that. Thanks for listening. I wanted to thank Daniel Lavec's family, particularly his mother Stacey

and little brother Joel for all their help with these episodes. I'm so honoured that you trusted Jordan and I to tell Daniel's story. Today's podcast recommendation is Rusty Hinges, a brand new podcast produced and co-written by Charlie from Insight and Impact Statement so you know it's going to be good. The host is actually her husband Lars who has an amazing voice. Here he is. The world can be a mysterious place. It can also be a boring place so let's focus on the mysterious. Rusty Hinges is a podcast that explores mysteries, hoaxes, natural phenomena and weird history. Basically anything that's a bit, well, hinky.

Season one topics include the tale of Clarence Roberts, a man who died more than once. And then there is the maybe kidnapping of June Robles, the son that danced in the sky over Portugal and an unsolved murder on the high seas. Rusty Hinges is generally skeptical but never dismissive. Well, usually not dismissive. You can find Rusty Hinges on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast app. That's Rusty Hinges. R-U-S-T. You know what? I have faith in your spelling abilities so go and subscribe to Rusty Hinges and maybe you'll solve a mystery. Probably not but you know, you never know. Did you know you can hear every episode of Canadian True Crime add free on my exclusive Patreon feed?

It only costs $2 a month and it really helps me out. To learn more, just go to patreon.com slash Canadian True Crime. This week I'm saying a huge thanks to these patrons. Megan P, John E, Megan M, Amanda F, Noah C, Carly D, Janice M, Lena E, Maerja G, one of my Swedish listeners and I'm so sorry if I mispronounced your name. Lindsay H, Dawn J, Jessica O, Mara S, Darren P, hi Darren! Julie P, Jolene C and August G. Thank you all so much. This episode of Canadian True Crime was researched and written by me with the help of Stacey and Joel Thur

as well as Jordan Bonaparte from the Nighttime Podcast. Audio production was by Eric Crosby. The host of the Beyond Bizarre True Crime podcast voiced the disclaimer and the Canadian True Crime theme song was written specifically for this podcast by We Talk of Dreams. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime story. See you then. We Talk of Dreams Yeah, I'll be in touch.