Paid killer pleads guilty to manslaughter for role in death of Edmonton woman found in a torched Jeep

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A man who paid to take part in the brutal kidnapping and murder of an Edmonton woman has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Cordell Kennedy was scheduled to begin a trial Tuesday for his role in the death of Vanessa Silva, whose remains were found in a burned-out car east of Sherwood Park in 2021.

Instead, he pleaded guilty to a single charge of manslaughter, admitting that he took part in the events leading to Silva’s death.

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Crown prosecutor Marissa Tordoff told Judge Douglas Mah of the Court of King’s Bench that the condition of Silva’s remains made it impossible to determine a cause of death or the exact role played by Kennedy and his co-defendants.

Both Crown and the defense said they plan to submit a joint motion on sentencing, although Kennedy, who is Indigenous, has requested a Gladue report before that happens. The sentencing dates will be announced on Friday.

Silva, 29, lived with her dog in a townhome in the Rutherford neighborhood of southwest Edmonton. According to an agreed statement of facts, a friend requested a welfare check on September 16, 2021, when Silva failed to check in. Police arrived at her home and the front door had been kicked in. The house appeared to have been ‘looted’. ”, with drawers and cupboards torn open and muddy footprints on the floor.

Silva’s dog was locked in the bathroom, where police also found several zip ties. Neighbors said they heard screaming from Silva’s house around midnight the night before.

Police later determined that a jeep set on fire near Ardrossan the previous night belonged to Silva. Her body was found in the back under a mattress, which had been burned to the coils.

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The next day, a breakthrough in the case came when children walking in Rundle Park noticed a cell phone in the North Saskatchewan River. The phone survived the water and location data showed it had left Silva’s house around 1:30 a.m. the night before. It stopped recording location data around 1:53 a.m., when it was within a mile of Kennedy’s residence. His fingerprints were later found in Silva’s home.

Police obtained search warrants for Kennedy’s home, his phone and his wife’s vehicle.

Inside the home, police found a pair of shoes that matched the prints in Silva’s home. Kennedy’s phone showed he was texting with a “third party,” who was “interrogating Silva for passwords for unknown accounts,” according to the agreed statement of facts.

The phone also contained photos and videos taken in Silva’s home, including in her bedroom and basement, where a series of photos of Silva’s friends and family were on the floor.

Another photo showed Kennedy holding a large stack of $20 and $50 bills.

GPS data from the car showed that it was within 200 meters of Silva’s home around the time of the robbery. The car was later found in Rundle Park, where the phone was dumped in the river.

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Kennedy was charged with first-degree murder in May 2022.

On Tuesday, Kennedy admitted that he was part of the group that broke into Silva’s home, held her captive and extorted her for passwords “for various accounts she owned and financial information,” according to the agreed statement of facts. He was paid for his participation and did not know Silva. The agreed facts do not say who paid him, how much he paid or why Silva was killed.

Silva’s family, including her mother and grandmother, were in court Tuesday to hear the guilty plea. Kennedy remains in custody and was sitting in the prisoner’s cage wearing a shirt and glasses. He said nothing except to confirm his plea.

The case against Bith Gattang Chuol, Kennedy’s co-defendant, remains in court.

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