WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of assault and murder.
A Calgary courtroom was completely silent Monday but for the subdued voice of a prosecutor as she read aloud chilling and depraved text messages between two men who plotted to lure, confine and rape women so they could film their crimes and make money from the videos.
“I’d say hands behind back, clothes cut right away, she’ll feel vulnerable and fight that,” wrote Steven Zwick, six hours before he lured his ex-girlfriend Chelsea Davidenas, 29, to his friend’s home in February 2024.
But the men were unsuccessful, because Davidenas fought for her life and paid with it.
As Davidenas struggled to get away from her captors, Zwick held her in a chokehold and a second man attempted to tie up her legs and arms.
“She died before they could rape her,” said prosecutor Vicki Faulkner.
Life sentence
Originally charged with first-degree murder, Zwick pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Monday. He was handed a life sentence with no chance of parole for 15 years.
A second man is also charged. CBC News will identify him as PR because none of the allegations or facts from Zwick’s plea have been proven against him and his jury trial is set to begin in January.
Details of the crimes come from an agreed statement of facts prepared by Faulkner and defence lawyer Andrea Urquhart, which was read by the Crown before Court of King’s Bench Justice Glen Poelman.
‘Shut her up, blindfold her’
Court heard that in February 2024, PR lived in a boarding house in the northeast Calgary community of Rundle, and Zwick was homeless.
The two were friends. There was a 34-year age difference between them, and Zwick considered PR a father figure, calling him “pops.”
Text messages seized from Zwick’s cellphone show the two men began to plot their crimes beginning on the evening of Feb. 16, 2024: to lure and record themselves raping women so they could sell the videos.
At first, their planned target was a young woman named Ashley, a friend of Zwick’s who was also known to PR.
“Get her chatting ASAP … just get her here and help get her secure … shut her up, blindfold her,” reads a message written by PR and included in the agreed statement of facts.
‘Choke and control’
But Ashley, who had originally agreed to meet Zwick, changed her mind, so the men turned their attention to Davidenas.
After a brief text exchange, Davidenas agreed to meet up with Zwick. When she got into a taxi, she believed she was headed for Zwick’s home.
As Davidenas neared in her cab, text message records show the two men discussed how they would conceal the noise of their crimes by running the washer and dryer in the boarding house.
Zwick met Davidenas outside and brought her into PR’s room through a window. PR was waiting outside his bedroom door for a signal from his friend. The two men continued to text each other.
“PR instructed Zwick to choke and control Davidenas so she wouldn’t be able to make noise or flee,” reads the agreed statement of facts.
“PR texted Zwick that Ashley was the person he wanted to confine and rape and that Davidenas was practice for the next assault on [Ashley].”
Victim fought for her life
About an hour and 20 minutes after Davidenas arrived in PR’s bedroom, Zwick gave his friend the signal to enter the room.
“Give er.”
As PR entered the room and closed the door, Davidenas panicked and tried to get up from the bed. According to the agreed statement of facts, the two men restrained her as she fought back and yelled.
Zwick stood behind his victim and put her in a chokehold while PR tied her wrists with a necktie and restrained her legs with his own.
“The assault, including the strangulation, was described by Zwick as lasting less than ten minutes with Davidenas continuing to fight for her life,” according to the agreed statement of facts.
‘I’m not too fazed at my actions’
For days, the men left Davidenas’ body on the floor of PR’s bedroom.
Meanwhile, they plotted their attack on Ashley.
“Are we going to keep her longer?” asked PR in a text message to Zwick. “I would still be in favour of continuing on with Ashley. I’m meaning actually get pics, sell some and so on.”
Zwick responded: “I mean I’m not too fazed at my actions, might as well make some real money. It was deserved. Kinda clicked a lil crazy in my head.”
But before the Ashley plan could be enacted, Zwick wrote that “our horizontal friend needs to be dealt with first.”
A second attack
About three days after the fatal attack, Zwick stole a car and transported Davidenas’ body to a rural area, dumping it south of Strathmore.
A couple of days later, the two men managed to get Ashley into the same stolen car.
With Zwick driving, PR gave Ashley drugs, but she sensed danger. Ashley surreptitiously dumped the drugs on the floor of the car and pretended to pass out. She then heard the men talk about putting her in a suitcase.
Suddenly, PR, who was sitting in the back seat, strangled Ashley from behind with a wire, causing her to nearly lose consciousness.
She managed to convince the men that she could get them money from a friend of hers.
Undercover operation
Zwick drove Ashley to a home where she escaped inside and told some friends what had happened to her.
Knowing that Davidenas was both missing and friends with Zwick, one of Ashley’s friends contacted Calgary police.
The next month, police ran an undercover operation targeting Zwick. On March 27, 2024, he confessed to undercover officers.
Zwick told the officers the plan didn’t go as intended because Davidenas “died before they could rape her,” but stated “I was gonna kill her anyways.”
A week later, Zwick was arrested for murder and again confessed to police.
On April 4, two days after Zwick’s arrest, police located Davidenas’ body.
Chelsea Davidenas’ body was discovered by police in a rural area southeast of Calgary near this stand of trees more than six weeks after she was killed. (Court exhibit)
Judge calls plot ‘reprehensible’
More than a dozen of Davidenas’ loved ones showed up to court for Zwick’s plea on Monday, with several delivering emotional victim impact statements.
A video was played in the courtroom of Davidenas’ daughter reading her statement. The now-teenager was 11 years old when her mother was killed.
“She loved having dance parties, laughing and making people smile. I wish I had more memories like that of her,” she said. “I would give anything to hear her voice one more time.”
Davidenas’ mother choked back tears during her statement: “They say you’ll always have your memories, but grief can take those memories and make them too painful to reach.”
And Kendra Davidenas said she became a florist “because flowers remind me of my Chelsea Rose.”
“Chelsea was more than a name spoken in a courtroom,” said Kendra. “She was someone’s daughter, she was someone’s mother, she was my sister. She mattered.”
In handing down Zwick’s life sentence, Poelman commented on the cruelty of subjecting Davidenas to “a terrifying and painful” struggle.
“It is hard to conceive of a more reprehensible series of steps and a plan to deal with vulnerable women to satisfy the perverse inclinations of Mr. Zwick and his colleague.”