More than eight years after a random machete attack during a break-and-enter in Oak Bay left a woman with life-altering injuries, the man accused has pleaded guilty.
Kaspar Handspiker, 32, entered guilty pleas on Wednesday to aggravated assault and breaking-and-entering to commit robbery in connection with an April 25, 2017, attack in a waterfront home overlooking Willows Beach.
The random daylight attack, while dog walkers strolled the beach in front of the home, sparked fear in the community, prompting nearby schools to be placed on a “secure and hold” while police initiated a manhunt.
It took nearly six years, multiple search warrants, dozens of interviews with Handspiker’s associates and an undercover operation to lay charges against Handspiker, Crown prosecutor Rebecca Watmough said during a court hearing.
Handspiker, carrying a machete, had pried open a sliding glass door to break into the home on Esplanade around 7 a.m., first ransacking a ground-floor room before ascending one level to the kitchen, Watmough said, reading from a statement of facts admitted to by Handspiker.
According to the admissions, Nermeen Alireza was alone in the home when she was startled by noises in the kitchen and went to investigate, Watmough said.
When Alireza entered the kitchen, she was surprised to see a stranger holding her handbag. She screamed at Handspiker to get out of the house and grabbed the bag’s strap.
The two struggled until Handspiker struck Alireza with a machete several times on her head, arms and hands.
“Slipping on her own blood, Ms. Alireza fell, let go of the handbag and nearly lost consciousness,” Watmough said.
Handspiker fled with the bag and returned to the car he had driven to Oak Bay. He and Christopher Standell, who had been waiting in the car, drove to Esquimalt and parted ways.
Alireza managed to call 911. First responders found her semi-conscious and “grievously injured” in the kitchen, Watmough said.
She was taken to hospital. She had a six-centimetre gash in her scalp, a dislocated shoulder, deep cuts to the bone on her left elbow and forearm — leading to sensory nerve damage — multiple fractures to her arms, hands and fingers, and “complex” lacerations to her right hand.
Alireza spent a week in hospital undergoing orthopedic and plastic surgery. Her hand function has recovered to about 70 per cent of normal but will never fully return, Watmough said.
On the day of the attack, Handspiker used Alireza’s stolen debit and credit cards to make several purchases in Colwood and Sooke of lottery tickets, gas and prepaid Visa cards. Officers obtained surveillance footage from the businesses where the purchases were made.
The following day, Handspiker attempted to dispose of the machete and Alireza’s handbag at Billings Spit in Sooke. He put the machete in a bag, weighed down with rocks, and threw it into the ocean, and tried to burn Alireza’s bag, including her bank and ID cards and mail in her name.
Police were called to the beach for reports of a suspicious fire and found the partially burned items and the machete.
Although Handspiker was quickly identified as a suspect, it was years before officers were able to gather enough evidence to charge him.
Officers analyzed DNA and cellphone records, interviewed his associates, often repeatedly, and received authorization to intercept private communication between several people, Watmough said.
Through a covert operation known as a Mr. Big sting, in which undercover officers typically pose as criminals in an attempt to obtain a confession from a suspect, Standell confessed to his involvement and identified Handspiker as the attacker.
Standell was charged with one count of accessory after the fact to break-and-enter and commit robbery. He pleaded guilty and received a one-year sentence in 2023 for helping Handspiker escape.
Handspiker was arrested in the Maple Ridge area on Jan. 15, 2023, and has been in custody since. He attended the hearing virtually on Wednesday, saying little other than to plead guilty and acknowledge he understood the consequences of his pleas.
Oak Bay Police Chief Julie Chanin and a handful of officers from Oak Bay and Saanich, which handled the investigation, were present Wednesday as Handspiker pleaded guilty.
Although Handspiker had indicated he would plead guilty, Chanin said she was holding her breath until the end of the hearing.
“There was a sense of closure, of justice being served and the conclusion of a very extensive and complicated investigation,” she said.
The randomness of the attack in the victim’s own home was troubling for residents, leaving many looking for answers, she said.
“Whether you work here, play here, study here, we all lost a little something that day,” Chanin said.
She is hopeful the guilty plea will help to restore confidence and a sense of safety in the community.
A sentencing date for Handspiker has not been set.
