Cold case resolved as man pleads guilty to killing his Calgary roommate decades ago

Twenty-four years after Daniel Boysis Turner disappeared from his Calgary home, his former roommate has admitted to the killing.

Randolph Westman, 58, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Calgary Monday and is expected to enter another plea next week to a charge of indignity to a body.

Boysis Turner, 22, was last seen at his home in the northeast Calgary community of Falconridge on Dec. 1, 1996. Westman wasn't charged until 2018.

Originally charged with second-degree murder and indignity to a body, Westman pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter  before Court of Queen's Bench Justice Robert Hall after negotiations between prosecutor Mike Ewenson and defence lawyer Darren Mahoney.

Details of the killing will be revealed at Westman's sentencing hearing next week.

• Roommate charged with murder in Calgarian's mysterious 1996 disappearance

Boysis Turner had lost contact with his family so although he was last seen in 1996, he wasn't reported missing until 1998. 

Police investigated but did not have enough evidence at the time to lay charges. Boysis Turner's body has never been found.

In 2016, the investigation was revived and charges were eventually laid in 2018 after sources say Westman confessed to undercover police officers.

At the time of his arrest, police said they believed Boysis Turner was killed by Westman in the home they shared. Westman then disposed of the body.

Westman has been in custody since his arrest.

Boysis Turner's family was not in court for the plea but members are expected to show up for the sentencing hearing next week.

Ewenson told Hall the Crown and defence would be putting forward a joint recommendation for a sentence.