A former Whalley doctor serving a life sentence for first-degree murder for arranging to have a teenaged patient killed to prevent her from testifying against him at a B.C.'s College of Physicians and Surgeons hearing in 1993 has once again lost a bid for parole.
Sian Simmonds, 19, was murdered in her Guildford basement suite on Jan. 27, 1993, on the eve of her 20th birthday. She and her sister Katie were scheduled to testify at a disciplinary hearing in March 1993 into Charalambous's conduct after accusing him of making sexual advances toward them.
Charalambous had been their family doctor for 10 years.
Three men – Charalambous, Brian West and David Schlender – were sentenced to life terms.
The teen's tragedy began in September 1991 when she filed a complaint against Charalambous, charging that the family doctor hugged and kissed her in his Whalley office.
The doctor had much to lose, as the college had already found him guilty of infamous conduct and suspended him for six months for marrying a 16-year-old girl who'd been his patient.
A B.C. Supreme Court jury in November 1994 found Charalambous guilty of first degree murder and conspiracy to murder, for taking out the contract on Sian's life. West, found to be the middleman, was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder in a separate trial and both were sentenced to life in prison without eligibility to apply for parole for 25 years.
The B.C. Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal of Charalambous's conviction in 1997. He was also denied day parole in 2020 and 2023.
The gunman, David Schlender, was also sentenced to life after pleading guilty to second-degree murder but died in prison in 2006, on the eve of the anniversary of Simmond's murder.
