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A Canadian man at the centre of a murder mystery in Mexico is making his first public statements about the killing of his 23-year-old girlfriend.
Kiara Agnew was beaten to death at a five-star resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on March 3, 2023.
Her boyfriend, Ryan Friesen, was found asleep beside her body in a resort laundry room, with swollen fists, bruises, and feet, and covered in blood.
Ryan was charged with killing Kiara and found not guilty in September 2024 after a judge-only trial in Mexico.
Amid Canada-wide protests over the verdict, a Mexican magistrate is now reviewing the case, and the verdict could be overturned, modified, or upheld. A decision is expected any day.
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Friesen’s statement
During W5’s months-long investigation into Kiara’s murder, repeated requests were made to Ryan to share his version of events and provide any documentation that proved his innocence. Those requests went unanswered until just four days ago.
“The past two years have been a tremendously challenging and emotional time, and I continue to feel grief and deep sadness for all of us that lost Kiara, including her family,” Ryan said in a statement to W5, provided through his Canadian lawyer.
Along with his statement, Ryan’s lawyer provided a copy of a report showing his DNA was not found under Kiara’s fingernails, while the presence of an unknown male’s DNA was identified. Both Ryan and his lawyer point to this evidence as proof of his innocence.
The Mexican judge’s ruling relied in part on that DNA report.
Analyzing the report
W5 had the report analyzed by forensic biologists at Wyndham Forensic Group in Guelph, Ont.
Based on this report, they confirmed that Ryan’s DNA was not found under Kiara’s nails and that one unknown male profile was present under her fingernails.
However, the presence or absence of DNA under fingernails does not prove or disprove innocence, they added, and it is not unusual for people to have foreign DNA under their fingernails, potentially picking it up from innocuous day-to-day activities.
They also clarified that if Kiara was unable to put up a fight, she wouldn’t have her attacker’s DNA under her nails.
In his statement to W5, Ryan said, “Legal proceedings against me have unfortunately impeded the investigation to find the actual perpetrators.”
Friesen’s account of events
Kiara’s step-father, Ricky Matchett, recounted a meeting with Ryan, his father Grant, Kiara’s mother Michele, and aunt Kaitlyn, in Dawson Creek, B.C., last summer.
“Grant and Ryan wanted to basically plead their side because … everybody was harassing him and he wanted to basically sway us in his direction that he was innocent and he wants his life back,” Ricky said in an exclusive interview with W5.
He said that Ryan’s lawyer from Mexico flew in for the meeting and provided the DNA report, claiming it was evidence of Ryan’s innocence.
And, Ricky says, Ryan revealed what he claimed happened that night: he and Kiara had been drinking at the resort bar, went back to their room, got into an argument and that he fell asleep.
“Then he woke up a couple of hours later and said that Kiara was missing … then he said that he left the hotel room, and he heard her screaming,” Ricky said.
Multiple attackers
According to Kiara’s step-father, Ryan claimed to have followed the sound of Kiara’s screams to the laundry room, that he beat on the locked door, and that someone opened it.
“He said that she was sitting there on the floor … saying that she was raped. And he said that there was three to four people in the room.”
Ricky said he asked Ryan three times how he ended up on the floor next to Kiara, but he couldn’t answer that.
In his statement to W5, Ryan said that multiple third parties were responsible for Kiara’s death and that there was “credible evidence presented that her injuries could not have been caused by a single person.”
It’s an argument that the trial judge in Mexico accepted as part of his decision to find Ryan not guilty.
Kiara’s mother, Michele, and aunt Kaitlyn, also accepted this version of events. Previously believing that Ryan was responsible for Kiara’s murder, based on DNA evidence and his version of events, they now believe him to be innocent.
In his statement to W5, Ryan wrote that he would like to “thank Kiara’s mother and aunt who followed the case closely and believe in my innocence. I encourage everyone considering this case to listen to their perspective.”
Worst violence ever seen
W5 asked Dave Perry, the Chairman of Investigative Solutions Network and a former Toronto Police Service homicide investigator, to review photos of both Ryan and Kiara’s injuries.
“All of her injuries are supportive of somebody that was beaten horribly. And his injuries would match that kind of an attack,” said Perry.
“The level of the violence by an angry partner is probably some of the worst violence I’ve ever seen. And this doesn’t surprise me in terms of the level of violence. It’s actually in keeping with a lot of domestic homicides that I’ve seen over the years.”
While Perry does not have the full case file, he said he understands why the not guilty verdict is currently under review.
“That’s what shocks me, that a judge would actually look at all of this evidence and… accept… the fact… that two people had to have been there to perpetrate the crime because of the level of violence. Absolutely not.”
This is part two of a three-part series investigating the murder of Kiara Agnew. Tomorrow, could the cartel have killed Kiara? Avery Haines goes back to the scene of the crime and asks the Sinaloa Cartel directly.
Part 1: Not-guilty verdict in murder of Canadian may be overturned