Jury hears graphic testimony as complainant describes 'excruciating' torture, beatings

'She got off on torturing'

Photo: Castanet

The Kamloops Law Courts.

Note to readers: This story contains details from court that some might find disturbing.

“Jekyll and Hyde” is how a Kamloops man described his wife as he testified to jurors Tuesday about what he called weeks of torture, beatings and drug-fuelled chaos inside their home.

Devon Jules and Jessica Jules, who are not related, are standing trial together in B.C. Supreme Court, charged in connection with a bizarre set of allegations dating back two years.

Devon Jules is charged with unlawful confinement and aggravated assault, while Jessica Jules is charged with two counts of aggravated assault. The complainant was her husband, Brandon Hoodicoff.

The Jules are accused of torturing and maiming Hoodicoff over a period of weeks in March and April of 2024.

“It was like a Jekyll and Hyde, so to speak,” Hoodicoff said in court on Tuesday, the second day of the trial. "She got off on torturing people.”

Part of ear sliced off

Hoodicoff said he and Jessica Jules were living together in a home on the Tk’emlups reserve. He said she invited Devon Jules to move in at the end of March 2024.

His testimony painted a picture of a chaotic environment fuelled by cocaine, crack and methamphetamine use in April of 2024, when he was “jumped in” to a drug-dealing crew he said Devon Jules was attempting to set up.

Hoodicoff said his hands were tied behind his back and he was beaten by two unnamed men. He described the pain as “horrendous.”

“After the beating stopped, my wife came up with a knife that Devon had and she cut a piece of my right ear off,” he said. “It was very excruciating."

According to Hoodicoff, Devon Jules then cauterized his ear with a blow torch.

“I remember hearing a sizzling sound, the smell,” he said.

Tortured with tools

Hoodicoff said he was tortured with whatever was on hand. He said Jessica Jules branded his thigh with a lighter and carved into his midsection using a screwdriver.

He said she used pliers to pull and twist on the cartilage in his nose and said she stabbed him twice in the genitals with a screwdriver.

Hoodicoff told jurors he was “kept on a tight leash” by the two Jules, without access to his phones, wallet or bank accounts.

He said he was not allowed to seek medical attention, because doing so would “give away everything that was going on in our home."

“I was told I would be threatened, my family would be threatened,” he said. “I didn’t know if I was going to continue to live or die each day."

The trial continues

The trial, in front of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brad Smith, is scheduled for four weeks. Hoodicoff’s cross-examination will continue on Wednesday.