STONEY NAKODA – The family of two murdered Stoney Nakoda woman are still waiting for justice after a guilty verdict was delivered last week for two suspects charged as accessories in their deaths.
Kaila Ear said she is “not happy” when asked how she felt following last Thursday’s (Dec. 12) guilty verdict for Yu Chieh Liao, 27, and Tewodros Mutugeta Kebede, 27.
The pair were charged in 2017 with first-degree murder of Hanock Afowerk, 26, and with being an accessory after the fact in the murders of Cody Pfeiffer, 25, and Stoney Nakoda sisters Tiffany Ear, 39, and Glynnis Fox, 36.
After a six-week trial in the Calgary Court of Queens Bench with about 74 witnesses called and more than 100 exhibits shown, the five-woman, six-man jury delivered a guilty verdict for the charge of first-degree murder for both accused for the death of Afowerk.
Kebede was also convicted of being an accessory after the fact in the murder of Pfeiffer, while Liao was convicted of being an accessory after the fact in the murder of Pfeiffer, Fox and Ear.
“When it came to the convictions, I feel like it's not good enough for my sisters – they are people too,” said Fox and Ear’s sister Kaila.
“What now? We thought it might bring closure, but it doesn’t, there is still that emptiness ... nothing will ever bring their moms back and that is hard.”
Described as a happy, kind and generous women, as well as loving and great mothers, Fox and Ear had 16 children between them.
Kaila said she does not think her sisters got the justice they deserved.
“I just hope they can find more evidence,” she said.
Kebede and Liao were remanded back into custody after the guilty verdicts, pending sentencing, while the family still seeks closure with no charges laid against suspects for the murder of Pfeiffer, Fox and Ear.
“I really pray they get the justice they deserve – they were an important part of our family and everyone loved them and everyone misses them,” Kaila said emotionally over the phone.
Kaila said many members of the family attended the trial including herself, who travelled from the Stoney Nakoda First Nation approximately 60 kilometres west from Calgary, discovering the brutal details of the unsolved murders.
During the six-week trial it was revealed the sisters had been fatally shot -— Ear once in the forehead and Fox 18 times, before their bodies, along with Pfeiffer’s were put in a car and set on fire in Sage Hill in Calgary in July 2017.
Kaila got emotional when recalling the details learned in the trial.
“Glynnis was shot 18 times. She was a small woman, she was maybe 100 pounds – she probably fought for her life,” Kaila said through tears.
During the trial, the Crown’s theory was Afowerk was kidnapped in an attempt to extort money and after the accused got as much money as they knew they were going to get, they killed him. The theory continued Pfeiffer, Fox and Ear were killed to eliminate witnesses, Crown Prosecutor Brian Holtby said over the phone.
“They were cold-blooded murders,” Holtby said.
In the original police statement, Calgary Police Services said investigators were exploring the possibility that Fox, Ear and Pfeiffer were “simply in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people.”
Two months after the bodies were found, Kebede and Liao were charged.
“Although charges have been laid, the investigation is ongoing as police believe there are additional people involved,” the Calgary Police stated in an October 2017 press release.
In July 2018, Calgary Police Services gave an updated statement saying officials were continuing to work with police agencies across the country, as they “remained confident that additional people were involved in the homicides.”
The trial started on Oct. 28 and wrapped up the second week in December. It took the jury three full days of deliberations to reach its verdict.
Holtby acknowledged it was a long and complex murder trial.
“It was very brutal [murders],” he said.
Pfeiffer, Fox and Ear’s murders continue to be investigated.
Kebede and Liao will return to Calgary court in January to set a date for submissions on sentence from Crown and defence.
