She was a mother and a daughter, and for her friends, she didn’t deserve her ending.
It’s been seven years since Kimberly Lynn Hallgarth was brutally murdered in her Burnaby home. Her friends are hoping the anniversary of her death will spark renewed interest in the case and eventually lead to her killer.
Shelley, an acquaintance of Hallgarth who did not want to use her last name, said she ran in the same circles as Hallgarth and never forgot what happened to her.
“Rumour was she was killed brutally, and she didn’t deserve that,” she told the NOW.
The body of the 33-year-old was discovered at her home on Colborne Avenue on March 15, 2009.
She left behind a young daughter who is being raised by her father in the U.S.
Media reports at the time linked Hallgarth to a former B.C. Lions player Josh Boden. Boden was considered a “person of interest” in the investigation, but never charged.
A Province news story noted in 2008, Boden was charged with assaulting Hallgarth, but at trial, she wavered on the stand and he was acquitted.
There were also reports Hallgarth was working as an escort, but police at the time noted her death wasn’t linked to gangs, drugs or organized crime.
Shelley said the case has been passed around to different investigators over the years, and is worried the case has grown cold.
She suggested the police have been dismissive, only telling her “they’re working on it.”
But the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) insists the case remains an active investigation.
“The primary investigator has indicated that, yes it’s active, if there are witnesses that haven’t come forward, we do want to speak to them but beyond that. We don’t have anything else we can say about the file today,” said Sgt. Stephanie Ashton, spokesperson for IHIT.
As for Boden, she also said there is nothing to indicate that other than being a person of interest at that time, there is anything new.
IHIT is asking anyone with information to contact the unit through its website www.homicideteam.ca.
Shelley and another friend recently started the Facebook page Justice for Kimberly Hallgarth, to generate interest in the case and tips to solve the murder.
The page can be found at www.facebook.com/justice
4kim.
Hallgarth’s friend believes there are people who know what happened to her, but are too afraid to talk.
“She had a little girl, it’s unfathomable that someone could get away with this,” Shelley said.
Anyone with information who wishes to remain anonymous can do so by calling CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 and reference (IHIT) file number 2009-2220.
Tips can also be sent by email to: [email protected].
