Breaking the Oath: The Murder of Sian Simmonds

Episode 212: On the afternoon of January 27, 1993, the day before her 20th birthday, Sian Simmonds, a student who was working he way through school, was found dead in her basement suite in the Guildford neighbourhood of Surrey, B.C. She had been shot and bludgeoned. Neighbours had heard screams coming from her suite. Only days later, a man named David Schlender was arrested. Already on bail for the attempted murder of one of his cocaine dealers the year before, Schlender told police he’d been hired by another man, Brian West, to commit the murder in exchange for wiping an outstanding drug debt. The investigation of Brian West led to another man, Josephakis Charalambous, the Simmonds’ family doctor who had hired West to murder Sian. Eighteen months before her murder, Sian and her older sister Katie had filed grievances with the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons alleging sexual assault by Charalambous. Rather than face censure by the College and risk losing his substantial annual income, Charlambous had sought to silence the girls. As the truth came out about the doctor, his carefully constructed facade of the community minded healer came tumbling down revealing an ugly pattern of violence and predatory behaviour toward young women and girls.

Sources:

Betrayal of trust | Maclean’s | DECEMBER 12, 1994

R. v. West, 1997 CanLII 3157 (BC CA), < https://canlii.ca/t/1dzn4 >

R. v. Charalambous, 1997 CanLII 3363 (BC CA), < https://canlii.ca/t/1dznk >

Mountie Seduced My Wife. I Want a New Trial — PressReader.com

Charalambous v. Canada (Attorney General), 2009 FC 1082 (CanLII), < https://canlii.ca/t/26bkj >

Charalambous v. Canada (Attorney General), 2015 FC 1045 (CanLII), < https://canlii.ca/t/gl077 >

Charalambous v. Canada (Attorney General), 2016 FCA 177 (CanLII), < https://canlii.ca/t/gs5q6 >

Charalambous v. Attorney General of Canada, 2017 CanLII 1337 (SCC), < https://canlii.ca/t/gx021 >

Doctor denied day parole 27 years after hiring hitman to kill teen | Vancouver Sun

Scandalous Case had Public Riveted — PressReader.com

Documentary pays tribute to parents of murdered children - New West Record

Family Physician Hired a Hit Man to Silence Her…Permanently - Medical Bag

Serving Life 25-One Guard’s Story — Scribd

Dr. Death M.D. by David Pietras - Ebook | Scribd

Doctors Who Kill by Carol Anne Davis - Ebook | Scribd

Fatal Prescription: A Doctor without Remorse by John Griffiths | Goodreads

Medical Ethics | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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