Markella Roasa (they/she) was a trans person who lived at Aoki Ross House, a supportive housing program located in Vancouver’s DTES.
On November 28th, 2025, they were brutally attacked, managing to make their way back home before dying of her injuries.
On December 9th, 2025, Vancouver Police announced the arrest of Korey Robert Muskett for second degree murder. In this release, Markella was "deadnamed" when VPD used Markella's legal name. No indication was given that they were trans.
The trans community was not informed that a killer was at large for 9 days after the murder.
Markella's frend Jodi spoke about her at the Trans March on July 31st, 2026
On November 28th of last year, at 3:00 AM, Markella Roasa was attacked a block away from Aoki Ross house. Markella did not survive the attack. She holds a very special place in my heart. In the four years I was at Aoki Ross, I worked a lot with Markella, laughed a lot with her too. I supported her on doctor's visits, and that usually gave us plenty of time to talk away from work and away from interruptions. I got to know her pretty good. She was an incredibly kind and gentle person. She would come to me and apologize if someone yelled at her for something she didn't even do. She wanted everyone to be comfortable around her. My office was near the stairwell, and every day when Markella came downstairs, she would make a point of coming to the office to give me a hug.
After helping her through a particularly rough time, Markella brought me a book. We'd talked about my Navy days, and she knew I liked to read. She'd gone to the Downtown Eastside Women's Center and spent over an hour going through donations to find a book she thought I would like. It's a British Navy book and it still sits on my shelf at home. Her senseless death was hard for me to take.
Korey Muskett, known in the neighborhood as "Too Tall", was arrested and charged with second degree murder for her death. Korey is no stranger to the criminal justice system, and he's no stranger in the neighborhood either. It's well known that he likes to attack trans women and beat them like he did to Markella. I guess someone has to die before we get protection.
The trial will be next year. I've gone to several of the preliminary hearings and I'm in contact with the Crown prosecutor.
We need to be there for Markella and it would be great if everyone could come to the trial to stand up for trans rights. Contact me if you want the trial details. I'll send them when a date is set. We should not have to endure abuse, much less watch our community be murdered for no other reason than who we are. Markela wasn't hurting anyone, much less a man that's at least a foot taller than her. Thanks for coming out for Markella and all the others who are discriminated against and hated for being themselves.
After a 2 short appearances on June 22nd and June 30th, the trial of Korey Muskett's for the murder of Markella Roasa is on hold for the next 11 months, with no appearances scheduled until May 25th to June 8th of next year because those were the first available dates during which a 10 day matter to be heard.
Muskett remains held at Surrey Pretrial, earning pre-trial credit of 1.5 days for every day he remains held before trial. While judges can reduce this credit, that will not happen in this case as Mr. Muskett and his lawyer are not responsible for these delays, but a backed up legal system that can't find time to book a 10 day matter
The sentence for second degree murder is a life term, with eligibility for parole after an average of 12.5 years.
As of his next hearing date, Muskett will have spent 535 days in pretrial custody, which would subtract 802 days (~2 years and 2.5 months) from the time period before he is eligible for parole.
We will not receive any further information from the police or courts until that time. As police reports to Crown Counsel are sealed, we will not learn whether VPD informed prosecutors that they suspected this murder was a hate crime or whether Muskett was known to harass trans people in the Downtown East Side, as is being reported by DTES community members.
Today was another short appearance with no new info, but a dedicated prosecutor has been assigned to this case:
Daniel J. Porte is senior Crown counsel with the B.C. Prosecution Service, specializing in major crime prosecutions who was given Kings Counsel designation in Jan 2026. "Kings Counsel" is a prestigious, honorary title bestowed upon senior lawyers in British Columbia who demonstrate exceptional merit, professional integrity, and significant contributions to the legal profession
Daniel recently prosecuted the complex Ibrahim Ali case. He also trains new Crown counsel and provides legal education to police and community organizations.
His appointment suggests that the BC Crown Prosecution Service is finally taking this case seriously.
Korey Muskett's 4th Appearance in his trial for the murder of local trans person Markella Roasa (they/she)
The B.C. Prosecution Service states that Sharon Preston was assigned as the crown counsel in this case, but is that good news?
Sharon appears to primarily handle BC Provincial Court cases and a murder case would be eventually heard in the BC Supreme Court.
Sharon also appears to work as a duty counsel - the crown who is in court all day, handling various procedural matters. This means she has limited time during the workday to work on a serious case such as a murder trial.
There was was no new info today because the Crown has still not finished disclosures to Mr. Muskett's lawyer.
Korey Muskett's 3rd Appearance in his trial for the murder of local trans person Markella Roasa (they/she)
Today was a very short hearing:
A Crown Counsel (prosecutor) has not been assigned yet.
Defense counsel Sandra Mandanici only received disclosures on yesterday on Monday, Feb 9th and has not had time to review everything she's received, so the case could not progress anyway.
Is this a cause for concern? Maybe a little.
In the past, prosecutors for murder trials were appointed usually within a month as these cases were prioritized.
Muskett was arrested and charged on Dec 7th, 2025, 2 months, 12 days ago.
Why does this delay matter? The Supreme Court of Canada's 2016 Jordan decision stated that The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees an accused's right to a speedy trial.
The Jordan decision sets a firm time limit of 30 months between the laying of the charges and "the actual or anticipated end of a trial" in Supreme courts
As of December 2025, about 10,000 Jordan cases thrown out annually in Canada. [Paywall Bypass]
Mandachini (who previously defended Muskett in another case) has used "Jordan Applications" to get charges dismissed such as in December 2025, when she told the court in a manslaughter case that she would file an application under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in relation to “undue delay”. Some charges were dismissed at that time.
One point of potential concern is that Mandachini is the 2025 President of l’Association des juristes d’expression française de la Colombie-Britannique (The Association of French-Speaking Jurists of British Columbia) and has moved for bilingual trials in the past, such as the trial of Felix Emond Moro in 2024.
While Mandachini has not suggested she will ask for a bilingual trial, if she does, there are very limited bilingual judges, court staff, etc.
According to the Government of Canada, in British Columbia "There are only three bilingual judges on the Provincial Court who are available to provide judicial and legal services throughout the province. The limited number of judges leads to adjournments and delays in the delivery of services when an accused asks to be heard in French. Some court officers are bilingual, but others, such as sheriffs, are not. The courthouses do not have bilingual staff, with the exception of the courthouse in New Westminster where there is a bilingual court clerk."
There has been growing national concern that because of bilingual staffing issues, provinces are unable to hold bilingual trials in a timely manner which leads to a higher percentage of dismissals or stayed charges as a result of a Jordan Application.
Keep in mind there are several very legitimate reasons which could explain this delay such as the winter holiday break , but the combination of delays and Mandachini's history of bilingual trials and Jordan dismissals has us a little worried.
Gender Queeries reached out to the Attorney General’s office last week, asking about timelines for appointing prosecutors, but did not receive a response by broadcast.
Muskett's next appearance will be March 11th, 9:30 AM Room 102, Vancouver Provincial Courthouse
Who is Korey Robert Muskett?
Muskett used the alias “Too Tall” in the DTES and was 33 years old at the time of his arrest.
His criminal history is extensive, BC Court Services Online shows 75 charges since June of 2011. See this spreadsheet for a more user friendly version of the CSO result that allow you to sort by date , etc.
It appears there no civil cases have been filed against him
While there are some sentencing decisions in Canlii, most sentencing decisions in Canada are oral
Previous sentencing decisions for Muskett were all oral, nothing in Canlii, Westlaw, etc.
Muskett's ex wife is Tamara Thomas, Facebook shows they were married on September 29th, 2024 and divorced on December 19th, 2024, with Tamara posting “Im divorced from that goof Korey Muskett” and “Two tall goof is not my man” on Dec 22nd, 2024
Tamara died on Dec 28th, 2024 only 9 days after breaking up with Korey. More about her life can be found on this Obituary and Memorial page.
