‘May he rot in that cell’: Family of Shuswap woman missing for years faces her killer

However, as they attempted to keep their hopes for Ashley up, the family crumbled under the weight of their shared loss.

“Watching what this tragedy has done to my wife, my daughters, my grandkids, all her friends … it’s led to significant health issues for my wife myself, we both had to undergo emergency surgeries and it led to my granddaughter down a dark path she’s never recovered from,” said John, choking back tears.

“No parent should bury their child.”

He added their suffering was compounded by the “torture” of not knowing what happened for the five years and eight months that passed before Favell was arrested.

During that time, John said Favell “was able to live and work, play and lie all the time knowing what he did. Knowing Ashley’s body lay rotting in a ditch for six years.”

“I’m a decent human being and I will not give a thought to him while he’s locked away, looking for pity, offering up excuses without remorse,” John said.

“How can he call himself a man when he refuses to take responsibility for his actions and spreading lies about my daughter? A life for life is what I say.

“May he rot in that cell. Even a life sentence is not good enough.”

Cindy, Ashley’s mother, offered a similar perspective of their familial grief.

She said the 2,043 days that followed Ashey’s disappearance were akin to being on a “roller-coaster ride” and Favell should be held accountable for that, as well.

“All the time he knew where she was and watched as my family kept going back to Salmon Arm to search, year after year. When they returned with no Ashley, they were feeling guilty that they didn’t find her,” she said. “Our lives were consumed with finding Ashley and, as a family, we shed enough tears to fill a lake.”

Crown counsel Alison Buchanan said the ongoing deceptions perpetrated by Favell after he fatally strangled Simpson following an argument they had in their shared travel trailer is the most egregious aggravating factor in the case.

“The callous and cowardly manner Favell disposed of Ashley Simpson’s remains is by far the most aggravating feature in this case,” Buchanan said.

“(Favell) dumped Miss Simpson like she was garbage. In his words, he ‘chucked her body in the truck, drove her up the mountain, kicked her out, went to his mom’s to destroy evidence and then dumped the truck in the bush.’

“These are Mr. Favell’s own words, talking about what he did to another human being, a person he was supposed to love and care for.”

Then, Buchanan said, he went on to cover his tracks again and again.

“He lied to the police, he destroyed evidence, he sent text messages from Ashley’s phone to make it look like she left on her own and he told her family she left and he did not know where she was.”

He kept up the ruse for five years and seven months until he was arrested for her death.

He pleaded guilty in October 2023. On Wednesday, he told the court he was remorseful for his actions.

In court, Favell, a recovering addict, said that he understood that it was his actions that led “to the worst thing that a family could ever go through — the loss of a child. As a father, I could never imagine the pain you and your family have gone through.”

“I hope today is where you and your family can certainly heal,” Favell said to the family.

“I’m sorry for the pain that I caused you. I promise for the rest of my life, I will work on my substance abuse issues, and I will become a person that society deems rehabilitated. I’m guilty for the death of your daughter and deserve any kind of punishment.”

That was something that Buchanan agreed with, pointing out that the prospect for rehabilitation appeared dim given how Favell behaved in the six years before his arrest.

“Mr Favell might be taking responsibility now, but to this family, it does nothing to undo that torture that he put them through.”

Favell’s lawyer, Glen Verdurmen, said that Favell, who is Indigenous, was on a path of rehabilitation after a long life of injury and asked that he be eligible for parole in 10 years.

Buchanan said parole eligibility should be set at 12 years.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Alison Beames will later rule on Favell’s parole eligibility later today.

Upon his arrest, the Mounties told a news conference they had found Simpson’s remains in a forested area outside Salmon Arm.

Five women, including Simpson, have disappeared from the North Okanagan and Shuswap regions since 2016. Only one has been found.

RCMP have said there is no connection between Simpson’s death and the other cases. Those investigations continue.

by Kathy Michaels / Global News

‘May he rot in that cell’: Family of Shuswap woman missing for years faces her killer

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