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Son not guilty of manslaughter in mother’s death

A 20-year-old charged with manslaughter in the death of his North Vancouver mother in January 2016 has been acquitted by a B.C. Supreme Court justice. Justice Elaine Adair entered the acquittal in the charge against Alex Joseph Lefkove April 13.
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A 20-year-old charged with manslaughter in the death of his North Vancouver mother in January 2016 has been acquitted by a B.C. Supreme Court justice.

Justice Elaine Adair entered the acquittal in the charge against Alex Joseph Lefkove April 13. Lefkove was charged with manslaughter in the death of his mother, Christine Grube Lefkove, 58, who died following an altercation at her apartment on East First Street Jan. 25, 2016.

The acquittal was entered following a weeklong legal argument, known as a voir dire, about whether a short audiotaped statement from Christine Lefkove before she died should be admitted as evidence in the trial.

Adair ruled the statement, taken by police who arrived at the apartment after neighbours reported hearing an argument, should not be admitted.

Hollis Lucky, Lefkove’s defence lawyer, said outside the court a key issue was that there was no way to cross-examine Lefkove on what she said in the audio recording.

“Something was said that can’t be tested,” he said. “That was the key piece.”

Without that evidence, there was no case, lawyers agreed.

North Vancouver RCMP were called to 102 - 312 East First St. in North Vancouver just after 6 p.m. Jan. 25, 2016 after a neighbour called 911 to report hearing a dispute and possible assault taking place in a nearby apartment.

Police arrived and forced their way into the apartment after hearing sounds of a struggle, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team reported at the time.

When they got inside, officers saw Alex Lefkove escaping over the balcony. He was arrested following a short foot chase.

Christine Lefkove was found inside the apartment. She had reportedly hit her head on a wall but did not show signs of visible injuries. It was only after Lefkove spoke to police at the scene that she began complaining of a headache and was rushed to hospital.

She died of an internal brain hemorrhage.

According to evidence presented in court at an earlier bail hearing for Alex Lefkove, the young man was at his mother’s for dinner when an argument broke out between the two over use of an iPad.

Christine Lefkove had suffered some serious health problems in recent years which had resulted in hospitalization at times, said friends who spoke previously to the North Shore News. She had also struggled with alcohol abuse and was physically frail.

Alex Lefkove had been living in a group home just prior to the incident, but had recently “aged out” of the social services system after he turned 19.

Lucky said outside the court that Lefkove is “still dealing with the shock of it all.”