A British Columbia man accused of murdering his common-law wife has been acquitted after a judge ruled that police obtained his confession through treatment so degrading that it violated his Charter rights.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Palbinder Shergill excluded the confession of Frederick Charlie, who had been charged in the April 2024 killing of Vanessa Terry near Agassiz, B.C.

Without the confession, Crown prosecutors told the court they had no evidence to proceed, resulting in Charlie's acquittal after a judge-alone trial.

In a ruling released this week, Justice Shergill found members of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team subjected Charlie to "degrading and humiliating" treatment while he was in custody at the Chilliwack RCMP detachment.

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According to the ruling, investigators required Charlie to change clothes in front of officers despite knowing he was not wearing underwear. They also placed him in a cell with an undercover officer who deliberately urinated on himself while lying next to Charlie as part of an undercover operation designed to encourage him to speak.

Justice Shergill wrote that the tactic "defies logic" and only worsened the already "distasteful conditions" of Charlie's detention. 

The judge concluded that Charlie's personal circumstances, including his limited education and lack of sophistication in dealing with the criminal justice system, made the police conduct particularly significant when assessing whether his confession was voluntary.

As a result, the confession was ruled inadmissible under the Charter.

Following that ruling, the B.C. Prosecution Service offered no evidence at Charlie's trial, and Justice Shergill entered a verdict of not guilty.