Okanagan man charged in drug-deal double homicide takes stand

A Naramata, B.C., man accused of killing brothers Carlo and Erick Fryer testified for a second straight day Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. 

Wade Cudmore, 35, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. The bodies of the Kamloops brothers were found on May 10, 2021, by a couple walking in a remote area around the Naramata Creek Forest Service Road, north of Penticton.

Co-accused Anthony Graham is also charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the case but remains at large. 

Cudmore's mother, Kathleen Richardson, was found dead in her Naramata home on June 9, 2021, by police investigating the Fryer homicides. Police said at the time the three deaths were likely connected to local crime and drug activity.

Cudmore was arrested and charged in the Fryer killings the day after his mother's body was discovered.

Under questioning by defence counsel Jordan Watt, Cudmore described how his own drug use led to his involvement in Graham's drug operation. He said he knew Graham from his youth and had played hockey against him. 

Cudmore testified he helped Graham process and sell drugs and, on a few occasions, was paid by Graham to drive bags of cash in the amounts of around $100,000 and $200,000 to a Richmond restaurant where he exchanged the money for drugs, including fentanyl.

On May 9, 2021, Cudmore said he and Graham left on a road trip in Graham's white Ford F-350 truck to buy a load of drugs from the Fryers.

Earlier in the trial, the jury heard evidence of all the places Graham's truck had been driven that day based on data from an in-vehicle GPS tracker. 

$400K in a buried suitcase

Cudmore testified their first stop was an empty lot in Peachland, B.C., where Graham used a shovel to dig up a suitcase containing $400,000 in cash.

The two men smoked carfentanil and the marijuana concentrate known as "shatter," Cudmore said, before stopping at the Merritt Canadian Tire, where Graham fraudulently bought a shotgun using a firearms possession and acquisition licence (PAL) he had purchased from another man.

Cudmore testified that while in Merritt, Graham announced the meetup location was changed to Kamloops. The two continued to smoke drugs using a gravity bong throughout the day, he said.

After meeting the brothers at the Kamloops Walmart, Cudmore said both parties headed back toward Penticton to complete the deal, the brothers driving in a grey Chevrolet Cobalt sedan. 

Cudmore testified that the parties went to a place in the hills behind Naramata known as "the junction," but no one had scales to verify the weight of the drugs. Cudmore said Graham instructed him to drive the brothers' Cobalt containing the drugs to Cudmore's mother's house nearby to use the scale he had there. 

"When I left, [the Fryers and Graham] were standing at the side of the road talking," said Cudmore.

Cudmore told the court once he confirmed the drug weights — half a kilogram of carfentanil, two kilograms of cocaine and 9-10 kilograms of crystal meth — Graham came to meet him at a place known as the train docks where the Cobalt was parked, and from there they went in Graham's truck to Cudmore's mother's house and smoked more drugs before both passing out.

The next morning, Cudmore said Graham was in a "frantic state" and confessed that he had shot the two brothers the night before, claiming they had tried to jump him. 

He said they then drove the Fryers' Cobalt and the F-350 up Arawana Hill, not far from the homicide scene, and Graham arranged for a person named John to dispose of the Cobalt in exchange for a big bag of crystal meth.

Cudmore said soon after ditching the Cobalt they spotted police cars. Cudmore said Graham panicked, did a U-turn, and then, after pulling over, got out a jerry can of gasoline, poured it in the truck and lit it on fire. 

Cudmore said he and Graham then ran away and separated.

Under cross-examination, Crown counsel Kelly Johnston used extensive cellphone and text records, along with security video from various locations, to poke holes in Cudmore's story.

Johnston characterized Cudmore as a full partner in the drug business rather than a subordinate to Graham, something Cudmore disagreed with.

Johnston also played parts of telephone recordings between Cudmore and various friends and family members from July of 2021. In the conversations, Cudmore is heard insisting he parted ways with Graham on May 9, many hours before the killings took place.

When asked why his stories in the phone conversations were different from the ones he told the court, Cudmore replied: "I didn't want anyone to think I had anything to do with any murder."

Johnston also questioned Cudmore about why he and Graham didn't bother to bring a scale or money counter with them to complete the drug deal with the Fryers, as was the usual practice.

"That's just what happened," said Cudmore.

Cudmore testified his mother had no knowledge of his drug dealing and was herself not involved in drugs.

Two men with alleged gang connections, Ekene Dillichuwu Anigbo and Jalen Nimai Faalk, have been charged with first-degree murder in Richardson's killing. 

Crown counsel's cross-examination of Cudmore continues on Wednesday.