The man accused of breaking into an Oak Bay home and attacking a woman with a machete eight years ago pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and breaking-and-entering Wednesday in connection with the incident.
On the morning of April 25, 2017, Kaspar Handspiker, 32, broke into a home in the 2500 block of the Willows Beach Esplanade, where Nermeen Alireza was asleep. The woman awoke to noises in the kitchen, where Handspiker had picked up her purse. Alireza investigated, and during a struggle over the purse, Handspiker struck the woman several times with a machete, causing injuries to Alireza's arm and hand that would require surgery.
As violence unfolded inside the beachfront home, Christopher Sloan Standell, 55, was inside a car parked nearby. That morning, Handspiker had picked Standell up in Langford before the two drove to Oak Bay, where Handspiker said he was going to steal from cars. Standell remained in the vehicle while his co-accused left, machete in hand. He was sentenced to three years in a federal jail on Aug. 24, 2023, for being an accessory after the fact to a break-and-enter and robbery.
The machete attack spurred a five-year investigation headed by the Saanich Police Department's Major Crime Unit, which arrested Handspiker in the Maple Ridge area on Jan. 15, 2023.
Sgt. John Grennan, who led the investigation, explained the job involved the hard work of police officers and civilian staff – and even an undercover operation “designed to get the specific details of the offence from those people who are believed to be involved in it.”
Grennan explained there was "a sense of relief and satisfaction" in the courtroom Wednesday when Handspiker entered guilty pleas.
"It was a sense of satisfaction in terms of all the hard work that had paid off, and that from the get-go we wanted to make sure that we were restoring confidence in public safety, but at the same time holding those responsible accountable for their actions," he said.
Oak Bay Police Chief Julie Chanin, who was also there Wednesday, said the guilty pleas give "a little more space for people to heal," though she acknowledged that, for some, "this will never fully be behind them.”
“The survivor directly involved, extended family members and friends and first responders – this just doesn't go away completely," she said. "But I am certainly optimistic and hopeful that with this guilty plea … people can move on the best way possible and in their own ways."
Handspiker's sentencing hearing will be set on Aug. 20.
