BC man found guilty of double murder of Kamloops brothers

A jury has found a Naramata, B.C., man guilty of two charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of two brothers in B.C.’s Interior.

Wade Cudmore, 35, was one of two men charged with the May 2021 murders of Kamloops, B.C., brothers Erick and Carlo Fryer.

Their bodies were found shot, stabbed and hit in the head near a forest road, not far from a home Cudmore shared with his mother.

The twelve-member jury reached the guilty verdict after four days of deliberation. While Cudmore was initially charged with first-degree murder, he was found guilty on the lesser charge of first-degree murder.

Cudmore’s co-defendant, Anthony Graham, was also charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the case but remains at large.

Cudmore testified in his own defense during the more than 60-day trial before the BC Supreme Court, telling the jury that Graham was solely responsible for the murders.

The Naramata man testified that he and Graham made a $400,000 deal to buy carfentinil, cocaine and crystal meth from the Fryers.

He said he was at his mother’s house in Naramata weighing the drugs when Graham killed the brothers.

During cross-examination, Crown prosecutor Kelly Johnston suggested to the court that Cudmore and Graham conspired to lure the Fryers to the remote location with the intention of stealing the drugs.

“You and Mr. Graham drove to the forest road to Naramata, and when you stopped, Erick and Carlo Fryer pulled their vehicle behind yours,” Johnston said.

“When you got out, you and Mr. Graham charged the two brothers and hit Carlo Fryer in the skull with a roof hammer.”

Under questioning by defense attorney 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.

The Fryers’ bodies were found on May 10, 2021, by a couple walking.

A month later, Cudmore’s mother, Kathleen Richardson, was found dead in her Naramata home by police investigating the Fryer murders.

Police said at the time that the three killings were likely linked to local crime and drug activity.

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