麻豆传媒映画

Deadly 2015 stabbing at Burnaby SkyTrain station featured in true-crime TV show

On Feb. 14, 2015, Victoria Heard got together with her longtime childhood friend, James Enright, for an anti-Valentine鈥檚 Day hangout.

The pair hadn鈥檛 seen each other for a while, and, as they were getting ready to head out the door, he stopped her.

鈥淗e grabbed me by my arms,鈥� Heard said, 鈥渁nd he told me how much I mean to him and how much our friendship means to him and how much he loves me 鈥� and I blew him off. I was like, 鈥榊eah, I know James. I love you too. We gotta go. Let鈥檚 go.鈥欌��

Less than an hour later, Enright would be lying unconscious outside the Edmonds SkyTrain station with Heard's hands on his chest trying in vain to stop the blood gushing from a single stab wound to his heart.

James Enright and longtime childhood friend Victoria Heard pose for a selfie during a camping trip in 2012. 鈥� Photo: Victoria Heard

Enright, 27, was stabbed after he jumped out of his car to stop a drunken, shirtless rugby player from punching Victoria, 27, repeatedly through her car window after she鈥檇 videoed him getting into an altercation with some other people near the station.

That rugby player, Taitusi Vikilani, an 18-year-old Burnaby Central Secondary School student, and Jesse Sellam, a 22-year-old he鈥檇 met at a house party that night, were eventually convicted of manslaughter in Enright鈥檚 stabbing death.

Sellam, the stabber, was charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail.

Vikilani was given a six-month sentence and three years鈥� probation.

Both are now free men.

Barbara Stevenson, James Enright鈥檚 mother, is interviewed by the makers of See No Evil.

Enright鈥檚 family and friends have never聽gotten over the sentences.

鈥淲e鈥檙e the ones who got the long sentence here 鈥� I鈥檓 still taking counselling. Some days are really bad,鈥� Enright鈥檚 mom, Barbara Stevenson, told the聽NOW.

In the media coverage of the stabbing and court case, the family felt Enright and his death were overshadowed by a focus on the perpetrators, especially Vikilani鈥檚 promise as an up-and-coming national rugby star.

That鈥檚 one reason Enright鈥檚 friends and family were on board when they were approached about the possibility of a TV show telling the story of his stabbing and the homicide investigation that followed.

鈥淲e felt it was an opportunity to let people know what really went on, other than the little bits that you get in the news,鈥� Stevenson said.

See No Evil

See No Evil聽is a TV series about how real crimes are solved using security camera video.

In Episode 16 of Season 5, titled聽The Man in the Red Jacket, the show details how the RCMP鈥檚 Integrated Homicide Investigation Team closes in on Vikilani and Sellam using footage from a camera outside the Edmonds SkyTrain station, a camera inside a train before it arrived at the Edmonds station, Heard鈥檚 cellphone and a camera in the elevator of an apartment building Sellam hid out in after he killed Enright.

The footage not only helped investigators zero in on Vikilani and Sellam, it also debunked lies the two initially told about Enright having been the aggressor.

The 42-minute episode aired on the Investigation Discovery Channel in the U.S. last month but isn鈥檛 yet available in Canada.

It features interviews with Sgt. Jason Gelderman, IHIT鈥檚 lead investigator in the case, and Sgt. James DeRusha, another officer who was closely involved, as well as Enright鈥檚 mother, stepfather and one of his sisters.

Dramatic re-enactments are woven into the episode as well as actual news footage of first responders performing CPR on Enright outside the SkyTrain station.

Heard was out of town in January when the filmmakers were in 麻豆传媒映画for the interviews.

A screenshot of See No Evil shows actors playing homicide investigators. The elevator security footage they are looking at, however, is real and shows Jesse Sellam arriving at an apartment building to hide from police after he stabbed James Enright. 鈥� Screenshot

Speaking with the聽NOW, she hadn鈥檛 yet watched an unauthorized copy of the episode posted on YouTube.

鈥淭here鈥檚 part of me that鈥檚 a little scared to watch it as to what鈥檚 going to come up for me,鈥� she said.

The event itself put her into a mental-health tailspin from which she is still recovering, she said.

For Stevenson, as hard as it was to relive the horror of her son鈥檚 death, the TV show did a good job capturing the kind of man he was.

鈥淗e was just that kind of man that would stand up for the underdog or anyone that was getting hurt,鈥� she said.

Tami Powers, Enright鈥檚 sister, agrees.

鈥淵ou know how families go 鈥� he was the one family member that everybody loved,鈥� she said.

Telling their story

The Man in the Red Jacket聽is actually the second time the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has worked with the makers of聽See No Evil聽to dramatize one of its investigations.

Episode 16 of Season 4 features the story behind the September 2011 murder of 19-year-old Surrey SFU student Maple Batalia by her ex-boyfriend Gurjinder Dhaliwal.

A screenshot of SkyTrain security video shows Taitusi Vikilani, in red, and Jesse Sellam, seated in white, on a train headed toward Edmonds station the night James Enright was stabbed to death. 鈥� Screenshot

Media spokesperson Cpl. Frank Jang said it鈥檚 not uncommon for IHIT to get requests from production companies.

鈥淲e could really make a TV show out of every single IHIT investigation,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e really could because each one has its own story.鈥�

The most important criteria, however, is whether the victim鈥檚 family is on board.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 do anything without the family鈥檚 consent,鈥� Jang said.

The cases also have to have gone through the court process, including any appeal periods.

Then it鈥檚 a matter of clearing everything with the top layers of the RCMP鈥檚 senior management and the force鈥檚 intellectual property office.

Jang said聽The Man in the Red Jacket聽is 鈥渜uite realistic鈥� inasmuch as it features interviews with two officers who were actually at the centre of the case 鈥� but no homicide is ever solved by only two detectives, he said.

鈥淚t takes really an army of investigators that go out, gather the evidence, canvas for video, for witnesses,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 TV show in a span of one hour, sometimes you need the one or two investigators to tell the story, but that鈥檚 certainly not reflective of the resources that went into solving the case.鈥�

Jang said he knew well all that was involved in the Enright investigation, but seeing it re-enacted in the episode drove home one main theme.

鈥淚t was a tragic case, no doubt,鈥� Jang said. 鈥淚t was really senseless, and I鈥檓 sure, for everybody鈥檚 sake, if they could rewind time, go back in time, they would.鈥�