12 years in prison for arsonist who torched homes in Edmonton's Alberta Avenue neighbourhood

An arsonist-for-hire who made a central Edmonton neighbourhood feel like “a war zone” has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. 

Darcy Willier learned his fate Friday afternoon, months after Court of King’s Bench Justice Nathan Whitling found him guilty of setting fire to six properties in the city’s Alberta Avenue district in 2020 and 2021. Willier set the fires on behalf of notorious landlord and accused drug dealer Abdullah Shah, also known as Carmen Pervez, who was shot to death in an unsolved homicide in March 2022, court heard.

Whitling imposed the sentence after hearing after statements from Alberta Avenue residents, who described living in fear as homes around them went up in flames.

“We’re still on pins and needles when we hear fire trucks and sirens,” community leader Christy Morin said through tears. “These fires just didn’t burn down houses: they took our peace, and every night we’re watching for the next one to happen.”

Willier also addressed court, as did his mother, who laid bare her shortcomings as a parent. Cheryl Willier described employing her son as a drug runner before abandoning him when he was 16.

“Over the years Darcy’s tried to change his life on the streets, but with no family support he was bound to fail,” she told court. “I was a terrible mother, just when he needed me most.” 

Whitling granted Willier just over five years of credit for time in pretrial custody, including a two-to-one credit for 18 months served in solitary confinement. He also granted a Crown request requiring Willier to serve half of the remaining time before becoming eligible for parole.

‘Mr. Big’

Willier was a member of the Redd Alert street gang and a daily methamphetamine user at the time of the fires, Whitling said. The period was an especially bad time for arsons in the city, with one investigator telling court there were 48 deliberately set blazes in the city’s core when Willier was on the streets.

After identifying him as a suspect in several of the arsons, police targeted Willier with a “Mr. Big” investigation, in which undercover officers posed as small-time criminals seeking to purchase inner-city properties. Over the course of a dozen “scenarios,” Willier admitted his involvement in some of the fires, taking the officers on a tour of vacant lots where buildings he had torched once stood. He was arrested in June 2022.

Whitling heard Willier’s trial this summer. While ownership of the properties varied, prosectors claimed the fires were in part a proxy war between Shah and Gina Cai, a developer who became involved in a “litigious dispute” after buying some of Shah’s properties. Willier told the undercover officers the fires would make Cai more likely to sell.

Whitling ultimately convicted Willier of 12 of the 16 counts he faced.

At sentencing, prosecutor Richard Tchir asked the court to sentence Willier to 20 years in prison. He said Willier showed little regard for human life, setting fires regardless of whether the properties were occupied. In one case, he torched a three-storey apartment building occupied by seven people, who Willier considered “rats.” In other cases, fire spread to neighbouring homes.

Tchir urged the court to send a message to deter other arsonists, arguing much of the case law for similar arsons is out of date.

“One has to only open up the paper or their smartphone to see the number of (arson) fires that still take place in the city of Edmonton,” he said.

“This is a time for this court to send a real message to those out there … to say ‘No, we’re not going to stand for it anymore,’ and maybe more effective and direct sentencing has to happen.”

In addition to Morin, court heard victim impacts from a resident who described fending off another group of arsonists targeting a home next door. The experience left him feeling “under siege in a war zone.” Many residents moved out, faced with declining property values and fear their house would be next, said the resident, who has since left the province.

Cai told court she lives with chronic anxiety since the fires. She sought restitution totalling $7 million in damages, including denied insurance claims and hits to her credit, though Whitling said some of the relief sought isn’t within his power to grant.

The Crown estimates the fires caused $2.25 million in damage, though prosecutor John Schneider said the figure is a “very conservative” best guess.

Shah a ‘father figure’

Yodit Kidane, Willier’s defence lawyer, asked for a seven- to nine-year prison sentence. She said her client, who is a member of Driftpile Cree Nation, never knew his biological father and grew up in a home where drug use and violence were common. He has supported himself through crime for his entire adult life, which she attributed in part to “systemic” factors stemming from his Indigenous heritage.

That someone in that position might see Shah as a “father figure” is unsurprising, Kidane said, noting the slain landlord often provided Willier places to live. Kidane said while Willier told the undercover officers he received $5,000 to $10,000 per arson from Shah, he may have been bragging, and no actual financial exchange has ever been proven.

Willier, who appeared in court in orange correctional coveralls, told court he was “deep in addiction” when he set the fires. He has repaired his relationship with his mother while in custody, and hopes to one day be present in his children’s lives.

He noted he has gained 140 pounds while in custody — a measure of how much meth he was smoking during his arson career.

“Obviously I was smoking a lot of meth, not eating at all during these offences,” he said. “It’s not an excuse, but it is a factor.”

“It was obviously very wrong, and I only thank God that no one physically got hurt … from my actions,” he added. “But I understand the trauma that I’ve caused people in the community.”

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