Chris's Crime Forum

The book on this case is out.Here is an excerpt from the writers website.

A Toronto judge recently sentenced a teen killer to life, calling Melissa Todorovic a "puppet master" for using sexual blackmail to convince an older male to murder a perceived rival.

But her crime, committed when Todorovic was 15, pales in comparison to that of Canada's original puppet master, Runaway Devil. Known as JR in court documents, she was a mere 12 when she convinced her older lover, 23-year-old Jeremy Steinke, to kill at her behest.

JR's story is told in the release of the new book Runaway Devil: How Forbidden Love Drove a 12-Year-Old to Murder Her Family. Journalists Robert Remington and Sherri Zickefoose describe how JR went from a suburban, middle-class honour student to become Canada's youngest multiple murderer when sentenced in the summer of 2007 for the brutal stabbing deaths of her father, mother, and eight-year-old brother.

Although she denied that she and Jeremy had concocted a premeditated plan to kill her family, it was clear from evidence that she, indeed, was the mastermind. As the authors write on Page 85: "JR’s friends also say she was the one pressuring Jeremy to kill her parents. In several overhead conversations, JR appeared to be the puppet master and Jeremy her marionette."


The book contains previously unpublished details of the notorious crime that shocked a nation.

http://www.runawaydevil.com/

The girl's name is Jasmine Richardson.
The authors refer to her as JR, but mention the name of Melissa Todorovic, who was 15. I wonder what's up with that?

Early in the case they couldn't give her name because of her age, but we are well past that now. We did know she was a daughter of the Richardson family, so we at least knew her last name and gender.

I see something similar in the case of Elizabeth Olten, who recently was found murdered in Missouri. Her suspected killer has been arrested, a person identified only by age, as someone Elizabeth knew, and the one who led police to the body. The person is 15 years old, and the police do not want to tell us the person's name or gender. This makes it rather awkward in talking about the person, who has been referred to as "they" and "them." even though the police are talking about one person. They avoid saying he/him, she/her, or anything that would indicate gender.

Under Missouri law, a child as young as 12 can be charged as an adult when it comes to first degree murder, but the case must start in Juvenile Court before they can be be tried as an adult, and publicly identified.

In Jasmine's case, her name was known before the book came out. I wonder if it's mentioned in there at all?

I believe Melissa was tried as an adult.JR could not be tried as an adult because of her age.If she had been 6 months younger she would not have been charged at all.Elizabeths alleged killer still has to wait for the prosecution to ask a youth judge to give an adult trial.Once that is approved all will be known about this girl.What a scary world we live in.