Thursday, March 28, 2024

Nanaimo man sentenced to life in prison for drug-fuelled murder in Brentwood Bay

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Warning: This story contains graphic content that may not be suitable for everyone. 

A 51-year-old Nanaimo man who broke into a Brentwood Bay home and brutally murdered a 20-year-old woman in 2019 has been sentenced to life in prison.

In May of 2019, Alan Charles Chapman broke into the home of 20-year-old Emily Caruana’s grandmother and severely stabbed three people while intoxicated on crack-cocaine and nitrous oxide, killing Emily.

On November 14th, a judge heard the gruesome recounting of events at the sentencing and victim impact hearing by those who were there with Emily on the night she was killed.

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The night of the murder

On May 11th, Emily and her boyfriend were visiting her grandmother to celebrate Mother’s Day. While she was there, in the middle of the night Emily, her boyfriend and another family member were brutally attacked by Chapman. 

Chapman had travelled from Nanaimo to Brentwood Bay to confront another person of accusing him of sexual assault. That person cannot be identified due to a publication ban. He also confessed to the court he had consumed crack cocaine and nitrous oxide that evening. 

The family heard shattering glass around 12:30 a.m. They got out of bed to find Chapman inside the house. 

Chapman armed himself with a knife he got from the kitchen and stabbed Emily’s family member, John Caruana when he tried to prevent him from entering the room where Emily and her boyfriend were in. 

He was stabbed in the neck and the back. 

Emily’s grandmother managed to flee the home and call the police while Chapman was progressing through the Central Saanich home.

Next Chapman managed to break into the locked room that Emily was in with her boyfriend, Justin Booth. Booth was attacked first by Chapman. He was stabbed in the hands and the head multiple times. After the attack, Booth needed several surgeries and a massive amount of blood transfusions.

Emily was attacked next. Chapman stabbed her several times while she laid in bed. Chapman told courts he believed her to be someone else during the attack. 

Paramedics arrived and pronounced Emily dead at the scene. 

Chapman fled the home before emergency crews could arrive and drove back towards Nanaimo. 

North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP had been tipped off by Central Saanich Police about Chapman’s direction of travel and they positioned themselves to catch him on the highway. 

Police gave chase to Chapman as he fled down the Trans-Canada Highway reaching speeds of up to 160 km/h. 

He was eventually stopped by use of a spike strip on the highway and he was brought into custody by police at that time. 

Sentencing

Chapman originally faced one charge of first degree murder and two charges of aggravated assault. 

At a hearing in August, he plead guilty to one charge of second-degree murder and two charges of aggravated assault. 

More than three years after this gruesome murder, Emily’s family and loved ones had their opportunity to speak about the events of that night at court on Monday November 14th.

Now, Chapman has been sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole for a minimum of 10 years. 

mm
Curtis Blandy
curtis@victoriabuzz.com

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