Court upholds murder conviction for ex B.C. Lion Joshua Boden

VANCOUVER The B.C. Court of Appeal has unanimously upheld the murder conviction of a former Canadian Football League player in the death of his girlfriend in 2009. Joshua Boden was found guilty in 2021 of second degree murder in the death of 33 year old Kimberly Hallgarth in the Burnaby, B.C., home she shared with her three year old daughter.

He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 14 years. Boden appealed the conviction, arguing that "a considerable amount of evidence" about his mistreatment of the witness was improperly admitted and argued he needed a new trial. The prosecution relied on the testimony of Heidi Nissen, a former girlfriend of Boden, who was present at the time of Hallgarth's murder.

Nissen testified about Boden's treatment of her and the victim during the course of their respective relationships. But a panel of three appeal court justices dismissed that argument, ruling that Boden had made "a tactical decision to consent to the admission of the witness’s testimony," and the trial judge had made no reversible error in the conviction.

Justice Joyce DeWitt Van Oosten wrote in her decision that the trial judge also provided a logical rationale for admitting Nissen's testimony. "This was a case in which there was abundant evidence independent of (Nissen) that was consistent with her version of events," DeWitt Van Oosten wrote.

"Moreover, I am satisfied it was open to the trial judge to take comfort from this evidence and to view it as confirmatory or corroborative in accepting (Nissen's) identification of the appellant as the murderer." Boden played for the B.C. Lions in 2007 before being released from the team in 2008 and signing with the Hamilton Tiger Cats, although he never played a regular season game with that team before he was cut.

Crown prosecutor Brendan McCabe told the court during the initial trial that Hallgarth sent photos of her injuries from a previous assault by Boden to then Lions coach Wally Buono, and Boden blamed her for ending his football career. McCabe told the sentencing hearing in 2022 that Boden viciously beat Hallgarth, stomping on her chest and neck, then strangled her and staged the scene to make it look like an accident.

McCabe called the murder “blunt, brutal and horrific,” saying photos of Hallgarth’s injuries were the most shocking he’d seen in his career. Hallgarth's daughter told the court in a victim impact statement that she would do anything just to have another conversation with her mother. “He took the world from me,” she told the court via video link from outside the province.

“He took a piece of my life that I can never get back.” Boden was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 14 years. — With files from Brenna Owen This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 12, 2024..