Chris's Crime Forum

Youth gets life in prison for sex slaying of Nina Courtepatte
By TONY BLAIS, COURT BUREAU

Nina Courtepatte’s mother is ecstatic that a “highly psychopathic” man who raped and beat to death her 13-year-old daughter when he was 17 can finally be named.
However, she still can’t actually say the killer’s name.

A youth court judge today ruled Michael Williams, 19, would receive an adult sentence on his guilty plea to first-degree murder and handed him an automatic life term with no eligibility for parole for 10 years.

As a result, Judge Janet Franklin also ruled Williams could be identified by name for the first time.

Nina’s mom, Peacha Atkinson, and other family members clapped and cheered in court when Franklin said Williams would be sentenced as an adult, when he was given a life term and again when she ruled he could be named.

But, later outside court, Atkinson was unable to actually vocalize the name of the man who “terrorized” Nina.

“I still can’t say his name,” said Atkinson. “It just won’t come out of my mouth.”

Atkinson said she was “glad the judge saw through his lies” and imposed an adult sentence on Williams.

“He’s not hiding under the (Youth Criminal) Justice Act any more,” she said. “If they commit a horrendous crime, sentence them as an adult.”

Williams was one of five people charged in Courtepatte’s “disturbing” and “revolting” sex slaying on a golf course west of Edmonton in the early morning of April 3, 2005.

In her decision, Franklin read out the chilling facts and twice slowly stated, “She was screaming,” while describing the reaction Courtepatte had to her terrifying attack.

The judge also noted that Williams, who was known as “Pyro,” tried to set Courtepatte’s clothes on fire after she had been raped and beaten with a wrench and a hammer.

“Nina Courtepatte died in the darkness of night on a cold hard field without any comfort, but rather in the company of Michael Williams and others who tormented, beat and raped her in a vicious and senseless act of violence.”

Franklin also said: “The circumstances surrounding this murder are nothing short of horrifying. This is the stuff of bad novels, TV and movies.”

Williams had been seeking a youth sentence, which was a maximum 10-year term, but the judge ruled that was not long enough to hold him accountable for his actions.

He can apply for parole in April 2015 since the 10-year ineligibility period begins from his arrest on April 12, 2005.

The only issue remaining is where Williams will serve his time – a youth facility, a provincial jail or a federal penitentiary. A placement hearing is set for Dec. 21.

According to agreed facts, Courtepatte was targeted as the “chosen one” and lured along with a friend from West Edmonton Mall to go to a supposed bush party.

Joseph Laboucan, 21, was earlier convicted of first-degree murder in the killing, but is appealing.

Michael Briscoe, 35, was acquitted of the same charge, but the Crown is appealing the acquittal.

One female youth was convicted of manslaughter, but has not yet been sentenced. Her acquittal for murder is also being appealed by the Crown. A second female youth is still awaiting trial after firing her lawyer.

tony.blais@sunmedia.ca




http://tinyurl.com/35jtwp


I say a federal penitentiary...see how it feels!

Woman gets 12 years for role in teen's sex assault, slaying
EDMONTON - Stephanie Bird has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and manslaughter of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice June Ross lifted the publication ban on Bird's name as she sentenced the 20-year-old woman for her role in the death of the teen on April 3, 2005.

Ross said she would have considered a sentence of 15 to 18 years, but had to take into account the youth, the maturity level and the aboriginal background of the offender.

Ross also took into account the apology issued in court last week to the Courtepatte family. While psychiatric experts testified Bird was remorseless, Ross said she was "expressing genuine remorse" in her apology.

A gang of mall rats lured Nina from the West Edmonton Mall on April 3, 2005, with the promise of a trip to a bush party.

Nina was taken to an isolated golf course outside of Edmonton. She was then raped, choked with a wrench, stabbed with a knife and beaten to death with a sledgehammer. Then one of the teens, Michael (Pyro) Williams, attempted to set her corpse on fire.

Williams and fellow rapist and killer Joseph (Snowman) Laboucan already have been found guilty of first-degree murder. Michael Briscoe, 36, who drove the teens out to the golf course and watched the rapes and the attack, was acquitted.

Another woman, now 19, remains on trial for kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and first-degree murder in Courtepatte's death. She cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The Courtepatte family wept in court when Ross pronounced the sentence.

"I'm disappointed in the sentence, but the glimmer of hope I have is the appeal," said Nina's mother, Peacha Atkinson. The Crown is appealing Bird's manslaughter conviction, arguing she should have been found guilty of murder.

Atkinson was also glad about the lifting of the publication ban placed on Bird's name because she was 17 at the time of the crime. "She can't hide anymore, so that's good," Atkinson said.

Nina's uncle, Bert Atkinson, addressed Bird in the courtroom.

"Say hello to prison justice, child killer," he said.

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'Buffy' convicted of second-degree murder of Nina
David Staples, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Tuesday, July 15
EDMONTON - A teenaged mall rat nicknamed Buffy joined in the frenzied rape and murder of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte and is guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Adam Germain announced today.

"In the killing frenzy that occurred after the sexual assault, the accused joined in."

Buffy lacked the specific intent to be found guilty of first-degree murder, but her actions were reckless and likely to result in death, Germain said.

This was the fifth verdict in regards to the murder of Courtepatte, who was lured out from West Edmonton Mall on the pretense of going to a bush party. In the dark and cold early morning hours of April 3, 2005, at an isolated golf course outside of Edmonton, a gang of mall rats then raped and murdered the girl.

Mall rats Joseph "Snowman" Laboucan and Michael "Pyro" Williams, who were 19 and 17 respectively at the time of murder, have both been found guilty of kidnap, rape and first-degree murder. Stephanie Bird, 17 at the time of the slaying, was found guilty of kidnap, rape and manslaughter. Michael Briscoe, who was 33 and drove the mall rats to and from the murder scene, was acquitted.

All of the main players testified at Buffy's trial. They were all "flawed, dishonest and untruthful" in their testimony, Germain said, with all of them claiming memory loss and all of them discredited in cross-examination.

Other mall rats testified as well, namely people to whom Buffy had professed guilt after the killing. Germain found much of their testimony to be unreliable, but there were a few consistent storylines that emerged, including that Buffy had used her two throwing knives to cut Nina's neck. This was backed up by forensic evidence, as puncture marks and a laceration were found on Nina's neck and chin.

Germain said he was highly suspicious about Buffy's participation in Nina's kidnapping, but there wasn't enough evidence to find her guilty of that charge. Buffy told police she thought Laboucan was joking when he said he wanted to kill that night. But at the golf course, as the attack on Nina commenced, it must have become clear to Buffy that Laboucan was not joking about his plan to kill, Germain said.

In his findings of fact, Germain found that Briscoe, Bird and Laboucan had all got tools, including a hammer, out of the trunk of Briscoe's car to use on Nina.

Buffy also admitted she had used her foot to hold down Nina while Buffy's boyfriend Pyro attempted to strike the girl in the crotch area with a sledgehammer. There was no forensic evidence that Nina had been wounded in the crotch area, but it was possible that in the dark, Pyro's blow had missed the girl, German said. This assistance to Pyro constituted an aggravated sexual assault.

During the attack, Buffy wielded the knife on Nina, inflicting wounds that were "deep but not fatal," Germain said. "The accused struck at the throat of the deceased using her knife."

Nina was killed by 18 fatal blows to the head, Gemain said.

LINK

Man acquitted in killing to be tried again:

Alberta’s top court has ordered a second trial for a man acquitted in the brutal sex slaying of a 13-year-old girl lured from the West Edmonton Mall.


The Alberta Court of Appeal has allowed the Crown to appeal the decision made in which Michael Briscoe, 37, was found not guilty of first-degree-murder, kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault in the April 2005 death of Nina Courtepatte.


Justice Brian Bellows convicted Joseph Laboucan in the case, but ruled that Briscoe — who had driven a group from the mall to the golf course — was not guilty. Three youths were also convicted.


Briscoe’s lawyer had argued that Briscoe never followed the group into the course, where Courtepatte was raped and killed.


“The Crown has established that the trial judge erred in failing to consider whether (Briscoe) was willfully blind to the harm his cohorts intended to cause the victim,” the three-judge panel wrote in a decision. “But for this error, the verdicts may well have been different.”


Courtepatte’s mother said she welcomes the decision and “hopes justice will prevail.”


“I am ecstatic by the decision,” Peacha Atkinson told Metro. “This gives us more closure in knowing that he is going to come back to court, and he’s not going to get away with it … justice will be served in the end.”

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EDMONTON — A young woman who joined a gang in the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte will be sentenced as a youth, an Edmonton judge ruled Wednesday.


The woman, now 20 and known by the nickname Buffy because she can't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was 16 at the time of the killing in 2004. She was convicted in July 2008 of second-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault after a judge found she stabbed Courtepatte in the neck and helped hold her down while she was raped by two others on a golf course in 2004.


In his decision, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Adam Germain said Buffy was young and immature at the time of the killing and noted that she did not help to plan the murder. He added she has expressed remorse and empathy for the victim and that she has continued her education and improved her behaviour while in custody.


"Often when a court supports a sentence that encourages rehabilitation and betterment for the offender, these efforts, if viewed narrowly, may appear to be uncaring or insensitive of the rights of the victim," Germain wrote in a 38-page judgment.


"Nothing could be further from the truth; nothing that is done in the sentencing process . . . can take away, nor even ease the heartache and pain that the family members of young Nina Courtepatte have endured. The loss of a child, is without a doubt, the most painful experience that can befall a family."


Crown prosecutor John Watson had asked for an adult sentence, but defence lawyer Peter Royal said the woman should be sentenced as a youth because she did not directly contribute to Courtepatte's death or coerce her from the West Edmonton Mall to the golf course.


Crown prosecutors said they would seek the maximum seven-year penalty available under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.


She is expected to be sentenced next week.

LINK

The last of the convicted killers in the golf course sex-slaying of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte was sentenced yesterday, but it brought Nina's mother no satisfaction.

The 20-year-old woman, whose nickname is Buffy, but cannot be identified because she was 16 at the time of the April 3, 2005, killing, was handed the maximum sentence available for a youth convicted of second-degree murder.

That means she will spend the next four years behind bars, likely at a provincial adult facility, and then three years under open supervision in the community.

Peacha Atkinson told reporters she was not satisfied with the sentence because she wanted her treated as an adult.

"To me, she should have still got the adult sentence and had to serve life in prison," said Atkinson.

"We were put into an invisible prison box that we will never get out of. Ours is a life sentence forever."

Atkinson tearfully read out her victim impact statement in court and revealed she no longer believes in God.

"I could not believe in a God that allowed the murder of such a young, beautiful child and to this day I do not believe in God," she said. "Maybe some day I will again."

Atkinson also said she doesn't have much faith in the sentencing judge's hope that Buffy is redeemable. "I know that she will never redeem herself," said Atkinson, adding she knows something about her which she is not allowed to reveal. "I will never forgive her."

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Adam Germain said the maximum youth court sentence was necessary to hold the killer "accountable" and he also refused to give her credit for the four years she spent in pretrial custody.

"I conclude that nothing but a sentence in the maximum range will suffice," said Germain, noting the woman will spend eight years and two months behind bars and the Crown has the option of applying to have her serve the three years of open supervision in jail.

Last week, the judge dismissed a Crown application to have the woman sentenced as an adult, ruling she was not a key perpetrator in the rape-killing, she was not involved in the planning and was young and immature.

Germain convicted Buffy last year of second-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault, however the Crown has appealed her acquittal on first-degree murder.

Court has heard Courtepatte was raped twice and viciously beaten to death with a wrench and a sledgehammer after being targeted as the "chosen one" and lured from West Edmonton Mall to a golf course west of the city.

Germain ruled Buffy held Courtepatte down during the rape by putting a foot on her stomach and later stabbed at her throat with a throwing knife.

Court has heard Buffy was both physically and sexually abused during a "horrible" upbringing in a broken home and later got into drugs, prostitution and a vampire cult.

Three others were convicted in the killing and one was acquitted, with two cases now before the Supreme Court.

LINK

OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada will hear from prosecutors challenging a manslaughter conviction in the vicious murder of an Edmonton girl.

Stephanie Bird is serving 12 years in prison for her role in the rape and beating death of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte in 2005.

Bird was found guilty on the lesser charge of manslaughter – in part because she said she had a change of heart and left the scene before the killing.

Two men were convicted of first-degree murder, one was acquitted and a young offender was convicted of second-degree murder.

Prosecutors say Bird would have had to clearly express her so-called abandonment of criminal intent to use it as a defence.

The trial judge and a majority of the Alberta Court of Appeal found that Bird might have put herself at risk if she’d spoken out.