Police use truck’s ‘black box’ to trace B.C. double murder suspects

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Two men accused in a 2021 double murder of Kamloops brothers may have made the job easier for investigators when their Ford pickup truck failed to catch fire, literally leaving hundreds of kilometres of trail for police to follow, according to what the jury heard on the first day of one of the men’s Vancouver trial.

Wade Cudmore and Anthony Graham have been charged with two counts each of first-degree murder in the deaths of Carlo and Erick Fryer of Kamloops, after their bodies were found on a forest service road outside of Naramata in B.C.’s Interior in May 2021, according to the Crown’s opening remarks to judge and jury in Cudmore’s trial.

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Police have yet to find Graham, who is the subject of a warrant.

Cudmore, who sat in the prisoner’s dock behind bulletproof glass in one of the Vancouver Law Courts’ fortified courtrooms, was wearing a grey summer suit, dark-rimmed glasses and his dark hair short as he listened with the packed courtroom as prosecutors laid out their case.

“A chop wound to Carlo Fryer’s head was … likely found to be the most significant injury leading to his death,” said Crown prosecutor Alexander Willms.

“Shotgun wounds that Erick Fryer sustained were likely to be his most significant wounds,” he said.

Crown told court that a knife, a shotgun and a roofing hammer — which has a blade opposite the hammer — were found near the bodies, as was a water bottle in another location. An expert will testify that Cudmore’s DNA was found on the hammer’s handle and on the lip of the water bottle.

Also found in the area was an abandoned white Ford F350 pickup, he said. The interior smelled of gasoline and there was charred evidence that a fire had been started, but the vehicle was not burned and police found a prescription pill bottle with Cudmore’s name on it, a $5 bill, a tissue, a Herschel-brand camouflage jacket, and receipt for a shotgun bought the day before at a Merritt Canadian Tire. A Crown expert will testify that Cudmore’s DNA was found on each of the items, according to Crown.

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The truck had an infotainment system “that stores a great deal of data, including where the vehicle travelled” and police used its GPS to find “it had been at the exact location where the bodies of Erick and Carlo Fryer were found” and had been there for about 15 minutes early on May 10, 2021, the day of the murders, Crown said.

The truck was registered to Graham, he said.

Police used the GPS to determine the day before it had travelled to gas stations and the Canadian Tire in Merritt, Crown said. CCTV footage was obtained from the store of two men purchasing a shotgun, and still photos were circulated to RCMP and they were identified by officers as Cudmore and Graham.

Cudmore in the photo was wearing the same Herschel camouflage jacket that was found in the truck, Crown said.

The Fryer brothers attended a Mother’s Day family dinner at their father’s home on the North Shore the day before the killings, court heard.

A cellphone found in Erick’s pocket was found to have text messages and encrypted messages sent through the Signal app to an account associated with Graham, and included Erick sending Graham a pricing list for several kilograms of various drugs worth $236,250.

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A police Crown witness will testify those drugs would be worth over $500,000 on the street.

Erick sent a text to the other party asking him to meet him at the Kamloops Walmart, court heard.

Erick asked him what he was driving and the other party replied in a text at 9:42 p.m. on May 9, “a big white truck, homie, but I’m inside Walmart,” court heard.

Court will hear testimony that a cellphone registered to Wade William (William being Cudmore’s second name) was at the Walmart around 9:40 p.m.

The truck’s GPS also showed the Ford truck travelled more than 250 kms from the Kamloops Walmart to the location where the Fryers’ bodies were found, a trip that took more than three hours and included several stops.

Around 10:37 p.m., Erick’s phone received a text from the same account he had negotiated pricing for drugs earlier saying, “Hey, bro, once we start getting close … I’ll slow down so you’ll know where to go. Super chill. Do you want to count or weigh? It’s way more chill.”

Erick’s response was “Ok, bro, sounds good.” That was Erick’s last text, Willms said.

The Ford then drove to the spot where the bodies were found, court heard.

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The truck then drove around Naramata for a while before stopping next to Cudmore’s house in Naramata. CCTV showed two men get out of the truck early the next morning.

It eventually drove on a different forest service road, Crown said.

And Crown witnesses will testify they saw a white truck and a grey Cobalt brand sedan driving together on forest service roads in the area, and a witness who said he found a grey sedan driven into the woods. Crown said the trial will hear the truck’s GPS will show it to have been near where the sedan was located.

And Crown will show that the key for the Cobalt was found in the white Ford truck, Willms said.

The Ford drove back to where the bodies were located and by then the police were there and the Ford reversed on the service road and made a series of U-turns before being abandoned, Crown said.

The trial will hear that a local out for a walk found the Ford, said Crown.

Cudmore was arrested in June 2021, court heard.

Police will testify that Cudmore on an intercepted phone call told someone on the phone that Graham’s father would lend him $20,000 and they discussed him needing legal bills of $100,000. Cudmore asked what he was willing to do because “Anthony owes me $250,000.”

The trial is scheduled for 60 days and continues Tuesday.

slazaruk@postmedia.com

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