'Callous and cowardly': Ashley Simpson's murderer gets life in prison

CONTENT ADVISORY On April 27, 2016, Derek Lee Matthew Favell strangled Ashley Simpson for 10 minutes. When she was unconscious and close to death he grabbed a towel put it around her neck and pulled – he wanted to ensure she was truly dead. He then drove Simpson's body into the bush before driving to his mom's house to destroy evidence. Ashley was 32 years old. The 41-year-old then lied about it for more than six years. Today, June 12, Favell sat in a Salmon Arm courtroom hearing how he'd destroyed the lives of Simpson's parents and family. Ashley's mother Cindy Simpson told the court she'd cried enough tears to fill a lake. "Ashley was taken away from so many people who loved her," Cindy said adding it felt like a piece of her heart was missing. Through tears, Ashley's father John Simpson addressed the court. "Our grief was compounded by six years of not knowing," he said. "What kind of person does that to a family." John described his daughter as a "gypsy" as she loved to travel and be on the move. He and his daughter had come to BC to work cooking in a lodge in Northern BC. He wished he could have convinced Ashley to return to Ontario with him. "May he rot in that cell," he said. Ashley was reported missing in April 2016 from her home outside of Enderby. She was one of several women to have gone missing in the area around that time including Caitlin Potts, Deanna Wertz and Nicole Bell. Crown prosecutor Alison Buchanan described Favell's actions as "callous and cowardly." "He lied to the police, he destroyed evidence, he deleted messages from Ashley's phone to make it look like she left on her own, he told her family she left and he did not know where she was," Buchanan said. "Mr. Favell kept that lie going for five years and seven months while Ashley's family searched for her." These actions compounded the family's suffering. For years Favell kept his mouth shut about what had happened to Ashley, as her family made yearly trips from Ontario to the Shuswap to search for their daughter. At one point they put up a $10,000 reward https://infotel.ca/newsitem/i-know-somebody-took-her-life-ashley-simpsons-family-still-waiting-for-answers-four-years-after-disappearance/it72862 and fundraised so they could afford https://infotel.ca/newsitem/ontario-family-still-doesnt-know-what-happened-to-daughter-who-went-missing-one-year-ago-in-north-okanagan/it42150  the trips to BC. But sometime in 2021, Flavell did open up, telling an undercover police officer that he'd killed Ashley. Her body was found and Favell was charged with second-degree murder. He planned to fight the charge but just before the trial got underway last fall he pleaded guilty to Ashley's murder. https://infotel.ca/newsitem/boyfriend-pleads-guilty-to-ashley-simpson-murder/it101333 His confession comes with 25 years of life imprisonment, however, lawyers argued over when he should be eligible to apply for parole. Crown prosecutors argued for 12 years before being able to apply for parole, while the defence wanted 10 years. Little was heard in court about the police's Mr. Big operation, only that it started sometime in 2020. An undercover officer had befriended him and they'd gone to the pub together. Sometime during the friendship, Favell had confessed to killing Ashley. Last fall, Favell's lawyer had argued the police's evidence should be thrown out, but after several weeks in court, the judge dismissed the argument. A publication ban prevented the media from covering the proceedings. The court heard how Flavell was Indigenous and had ongoing substance use issues. He has fetal alcohol syndrome and grew up in a household of alcohol and violence. He began using heroin at 13 years old and dropped out of school at 15. However, he had had points of employment and stability and had worked and bought a house and had two children. His relationship ultimately fell apart due to his substance use. His 20-year-old daughter was sitting in the courtroom. Flavell told the court he was remorseful. "As a father, I can never imagine the pain you and your family are going through... I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you," he said. "My actions led to the worst thing a person could ever go through, the loss of a child." BC Supreme Court Justice Alison Beames will make her decision later today on Flavell's parole eligibility. To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer mailto:bbulmer@infonews.ca  or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . 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