The man accused of killing a Nanaimo grandmother in what RCMP have described as a “stranger homicide” was previously convicted of assaulting a teen in an alleged abduction attempt, and was set to be tried on separate charges Wednesday.
Cameron Alexander Compton, 32, is accused of eight allegations against an intimate partner between April 1, 2025 and mid-November – including assault by choking on Nov. 14 and mischief by damaging a television on Nov. 15.
His judge-alone trial in Nanaimo provincial court was adjourned to Aug. 4 to set new dates.
Compton was charged Monday with the second-degree murder of Sherry Shelley near Lantzville and interfering with human remains in Nanaimo from Nov. 13 to Nov. 14, 2025.
Shelley, 64, vanished from north Nanaimo on the evening of Nov.l 13 and was found dead hours later following a vehicle fire in a wooded area on College Drive near the Highway 19 intersection.
Compton also has a judge-alone trial scheduled to start Aug. 25 in Nanaimo on two other allegations involving an intimate partner.
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He’s accused of failing to comply with a no-contact order, and wilfully attempting to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice between Nov. 18 and Dec. 3 of 2025.
Court records indicate Compton has been in custody without a bail hearing since Nov. 18 of last year.
Criminal lawyer and former prosecutor Rob Dhanu, K.C., said the serious intimate partner violence charges, the possibility of Crown counsel alleging an outstanding murder probe, and Compton’s criminal record would likely have all been factors in any decision not to seek bail.
“If the Crown alleged an outstanding murder investigation while Mr. Compton was going for bail on these serious IPV charges, a judge is going to give that extremely serious consideration and it seems to me that bail would have been a lost cause at that stage,” Dhanu told Global News in an interview.
Compton’s criminal resume dates back to 2014, when he was charged in the attempted abduction of a teen in Cedar, southeast of Nanaimo.
RCMP said a 17-year-old girl had stopped to help some kittens cross the road on June 11, when Compton allegedly drove up, assaulted her, and tried to drag her back to his car.
Compton, who was 20 at the time, was accused of five offences including kidnapping with intent to cause someone to be confined against their will, unlawful confinement, and aggravated assault.
He was convicted of choking to overcome resistance, possession of stolen property under $5,000, and the lesser charge of assault causing bodily harm.
Compton was sentenced in February 2015 to 21 months in jail followed by two years probation, with conditions not to consume, possess or use alcohol or drugs, not to possess any pipes, syringes or drug paraphernalia, and to attend, participate and successfully complete any alcohol/drug/anger management counselling as directed by his probation officer.
Compton also received 90 days in jail for possessing stolen property over $5,000 on June 22, 2014 in Nanaimo.
He was remanded in custody following an Aug. 14, 2014 theft of motor vehicle charge in Nanaimo and a dangerous driving allegation in Ladysmith one day later.
On Sept. 2, 2014, Compton was sentenced to one day in jail and 18 months probation on both charges.
In March 2023, Compton received a sentence of jail time served for being at large on an undertaking in May 2021, and failing to comply with a no communication condition.
Compton had been released on $2,500 bail on that charge in September 2022, and ordered to live under electronic monitoring at a New Vision residential treatment facility and participate in any and all programs for alcohol or drug addiction or psychological health.
He remains in custody ahead of a court appearance on the murder charge scheduled for Aug. 11.
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