WARNING: This story contains details of violence that may be difficult to read. Discretion is advised.
A man who beat his neighbour with a cane and strangled her to death before duct-taping her body and hiding it in a rug pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in an Edmonton court on Thursday, and was sentenced to a decade in prison.
Ryan Farrell, 35, was initially charged with second-degree murder in the April 2023 death of his downstairs neighbour Lauren Jarvis, who was 27 when she was killed in the fourplex they both lived in near 109 Avenue and 122 Street.
Jarvis grew up in Saskatoon, Sask. but after graduating high school moved to Edmonton. She worked at various jobs including being a nanny for several families, working at Costco, personal assisting, and then at Strathcona Spirits.
Jarvis was a foodie and was taking classes to become an interior designer. By all accounts she was a lively, positive, genuine and carefree young women with big life plans.
Lauren Jarvis was found dead in her rental home in Edmonton’s Westmount neighbourhood April 2, 2023.
Credit: Lauren Jarvis via Facebook
Farrell pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, which felt like a slap in the face to Cassandra Wildermuth — Jarvis’ close friend who was there when police found the young woman dead in her basement suite in central Edmonton’s Westmount neighbourhood on April 2, 2023.
“This isn’t justice. This isn’t close to justice,” Wildermuth said outside the Edmonton courthouse, saying she is grateful for the work the Crown put into the case, but “I’m never gonna get Lauren back.
“Our system is broken and something needs to change and it needs to change now.”
Farrell had lived with his father in the upper unit of the fourplex for about two months when he killed Jarvis, who resided in the unit below them.
Court heard they didn’t really know each other, police said the two were not well acquainted, and her friends told Global News Jarvis found Farrell and his father to be creepy, off-putting, unpleasant neighbours.
On the day of her death, Jarvis and been planning to meet up with Wildermuth for a walk in Kinsmen Park in river valley, before going to Sunday brunch. The two met a few years prior while both working as nannies and quickly became inseparable friends.
The agreed statement of facts said the two enjoyed a uniquely close relationship, “marked by constant contact through telecommunications including multiple telephone calls each day and sometimes upwards of 100 text messages per day, sharing all imaginable details of personal and daily life.”
Lauren Jarvis was found dead in her rental home April 2, 2023.
CREDIT: Facebook/Lauren Jarvis
That morning, the two women texted several times and had a half-hour FaceTime call while they got ready. That was the last time Wildermuth ever spoke to her friend.
Jarvis sent a text just before 11 a.m. taking note of the weather (“Was worse but now flurries like light”).
Half an hour later, Wildermuth tried to call Jarvis to say she was leaving home, but her friend never answered.
She texted and called a few times over the following hour to say she’d arrived at the park, but Jarvis never replied.
At the time, Wildermuth assumed her friend had fallen back asleep and met up with a different friend.
As the day went on with radio silence however, and knowing it was uncharacteristic for Jarvis not to be glued to her phone, Wildermuth went to her friend’s place in the evening to see what was up.
There was no response at the door and no movement visible inside the windows, despite Wildermuth knowing her friend’s phone was in the home due to location sharing between the two women.
Worried, Wildermuth reached out to some of their friends, who also hadn’t heard from Jarvis all day. She then called her own mom and the landlord, who showed up at 8:30 p.m.
The landlord entered the unit while the mother and daughter waited outside.
What he discovered was chilling.
WARNING: Disturbing details ahead
Police arrived after the landlord called 911, and found Lauren Jarvis dead in her bedroom.
Her wrists and feet were bound together with white duct tape, her head was covered by a reusable shopping bag and taped closed at her neck. Her body was wrapped in a carpet that was duct taped closed.
The officers began door-knocking on the neighbouring suites.
Farrell answered his door, and police quickly noted scratch marks on his face and forearms.
The agreed statement of facts said police entered his suite and had a lengthy conversation, during which Farrell claimed he heard sounds in he building earlier in the day, but he’d been drinking and eating cannabis edibles — although police said he didn’t seem impaired.
He was eventually arrested and his home searched over the next two days.
Investigators found garbage bags containing bottles of Pine-Sol, lengths of rope and tissues that were stained red, white duct tape, Lauren Jarvis’ cut up Saskatchewan driver’s licence and Blue Cross health card. Her laptop was also found in Farrell’s home.
Two days after she died, an autopsy was done.
The medical examiner noted Jarvis suffered several injuries and her death was a combination of strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.
She had rope marks and bruises around her neck, a fractured finger, multiple bruises and scratches to her torso, hands and feet.
Her scalp also was torn, her face extensively bruised, and cuts on her neck believed to have been caused by fingernails. She didn’t have any alcohol or drugs in her system.
Farrell’s DNA was found under her fingernails and in her vagina, but the medical examiner was unable to determine when it was deposited.
The investigation found sometime between 10:57 a.m. and 11:34 a.m. on April 2, Farrell encountered Jarvis at their duplex.
“By relying on a walking cane and rope from his suite as weapons, he struck Ms. Jarvis multiple times on her head, torso and extremities. He tied a white rope around Ms. Jarvis’ neck, which causes significant muscle and cartilage damage and prevented her ability to breathe,” court documents said.
The combination of being strangled and beaten led the young woman to passing out and dying.
After that, Farrell sent a panicked and breathless voice text to his mom, saying he didn’t do anything. But after killing Jarvis, the court document detailed how Farrell took significant steps to conceal his actions.
He bound her arms and legs, secured the bag to her head, wrapped her body in the rug and taped it closed. He also attempted to clean the scene, including blood that was tracked onto the stairs leading to his home. Forensic investigators later found traces of blood and a cleaning product smeared over each step.
Why he killed her is a mystery.
Jarvis’s loved ones do not know why the court accepted a guilty plea of the lesser sentence of manslaughter.
“I don’t understand it. I’ve studied criminal justice and I don’t understand it,” said Jaydan Kallis, who was friends with Jarvis. “My brain cannot make sense of how they could come to this agreeance.”
“I will be terrified of him, I will terrified of men, I might not ever leave my house again. I’m so scared of senselessness and the randomness of it all — to agree that he can just walk eventually is absurd.”
During sentencing, 16 victim impact statements were read by the friends and family of Lauren Jarvis.
Farrell was given an opportunity to address the court, but simply said, “I think I will stay silent.”
Lauren’s friends judge Farrell harshly for not speaking in court.
“Honestly, if he even stood up and made a statement such as ‘Nothing I can ever say or do will make this better, I am sorry’ something along those lines would have been better than nothing,” Wildermuth said.
“Nothing speaks louder than words. This is atrocious.”
Justice Jody Fraser told Farrell he owes a great debt to society.
“What did happen was brutal,” he said. “You have a lot of making up to do for the rest of your life, sir.”
Lauren Jarvis was found dead in her rental home in Edmonton’s Westmount neighbourhood April 2, 2023.
Credit: Lauren Jarvis via Facebook
Fraser addressed the victim’s family, saying he understood no words can ease the depth of their pain.
“Lauren touched all of your lives in a very significant way,” Fraser said, adding their suffering has not gone unnoticed.
“I cannot bring back your loved one. Lauren was tragically taken from you far too early. As Lauren’s mother said: ‘No sentence or punishment will make up the pain that was caused.’”
To that end, Fraser sentenced Farrell to 126 months, or 10.5 years, in prison. He received credit for pre-trial time already spent behind bars, so he will serve another seven or so years. Farrell is also banned for life from owning firearms.
Friends of Lauren rejected testimony in court by the defence and Farrell’s family, attempting to humanize the accused.
“I don’t believe any of it. If he was the compassionate and empathetic man that the defence says he is and that his mother says he’s — how could he do it?” Kallis said.
“I’m compassionate, I’m empathetic. I’ve never thought of doing that. I’ve had hard times in my life. I’ve been mistreated in my live. I didn’t do that. They said he was raised in a good home. He had good familial relations. He had a strong bond with his brothers. What caused you to do that? He couldn’t give us an answer.
“It’s just absurd because I couldn’t possibly think of doing that. So why could he?”
Family and friends of Edmonton murder victim Lauren Jarvis organized a walk to honour her life and raise funds for homicide victims.
Global News/Kevin Sabiston
Lauren’s brother Spencer Jarvis spoke on behalf of the family outside the courthouse on Thursday.
Spencer said he’s not a lawyer, doesn’t claim to know law or how to run a police squad — but said it’s clear to the family somewhere along the way, there were enough mistakes made to lead to a manslaughter plea instead of a murder conviction.
“We are not happy with this outcome, although we are thankful that Ryan Farrell is at least serving time. No amount of time will bring Lauren back. This was a disgusting and random act of violence from a complete stranger to Lauren,” Jarvis said.
“Lauren Jarvis was taken from us, and Ryan will likely live a full life after prison — while my family, as well as Lauren’s friends, will serve a lifetime without her.”
A walk in Lauren’s honour and to call for changes to the justice system will be held on May 31 in Edmonton, starting in the Kinsmen Sports Park at 11 a.m. Those attending are encouraged to wear green — Lauren’s favourite colour.
“We wanna tell Lauren’s story,” Wildermuth said. “We wanna talk about who Lauren was, and the impact that she made in our lives. And then we wanna talk about how our system’s broken.”
Family of homicide victim host Justice for Lauren walk
