Richardson family murders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Richardson family murders are the murders of three members of the Richardson family in Medicine Hat, Alberta.[1]
At 1 p.m. on 23 April 2006, the bodies of Marc Richardson (age 42) and his wife Debra (age 48) were found in the basement of their home,[2] and the body of their son Jacob (age 8) was discovered upstairs.[3][4][5] Absent from the home at that time was the couple's 12-year-old[6] daughter (early news reports said she was 13).[3] For a time it was feared that she, too, might have been a victim, but she was arrested the next day in the community of Leader, Saskatchewan, about 130 kilometres (81 mi) away, with her 23-year-old boyfriend Jeremy Allan Steinke; both were charged with the three murders.[6][7] Later, on May 3, 2006, Kacy Lancaster was charged with being an accessory after the fact for disposing of evidence.[8]
Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act the name of the daughter could no longer be published in Canada after she became a suspect. Under the same act, twelve is the lowest possible age a person can be charged, persons under fourteen cannot be sentenced as adults, and cannot be given more than a ten year sentence (an adult could face a life sentence).[9]
According to friends of the girl, who was in grade seven,[10] her parents had grounded her for dating Steinke, due in part to the age disparity.[11] Her friends had also criticized the relationship, but the couple continued dating regardless.[11] Shortly after her arrest, Steinke asked her to marry him, and she agreed.[12]
According to friends of Steinke, he told them he thought he was a 300-year-old werewolf.[13] He allegedly told his friends that he liked the taste of blood, and wore a small vial of blood around his neck.[14] He also had a user account at the VampireFreaks.com web site.[15] The girl had a page at the same site, leading to speculation they met there.[16] However, an acquaintance of Steinke later said the couple actually met at a punk rock show in early 2006.[17]
The couple were also found to be communicating at Nexopia, a popular web site for young Canadians.[18] Various messages they sent to each were available to the public, before the accounts were removed by Nexopia staff.[18] The girl's user page, under the name "runawaydevil", falsely said she was 15 and ended with the text "Welcome to my tragic end".[19]
On July 9, 2007, the girl was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in the killings.[20] On November 8, 2007, she was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, which is the maximum penalty for a person under 14 years of age.[21] This will include four years in a psychiatric institution and four and a half years under conditional supervision in the community. The Richardsons' daughter is believed to be the youngest person ever convicted of a multiple murder in Canada.[20] Steinke admitted to the murder of the parents in conversation with an undercover police officer while in custody.[22]
[edit] References
- ^ "Three bodies discovered in Medicine Hat home", ctv.ca, April 24, 2006.
- ^ Punch, Rachel. "Do youth sentences fit the crime?: Sensational cases aren't the norm, but spark calls for tougher sentences". The Sudbury Star. http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1086366&auth=RACHEL+PUNCH. Retrieved on 2008-07-02.[dead link]
- ^ a b Dohy, Leanne (2006-04-24). "Triple murder shocks city: Medicine Hat girl missing, family dead". Calgary Herald: p. A.1.. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=c3f96856-92e2-40da-b431-2a42761ae015&k=31322. Retrieved on 2006-06-19.
- ^ Sherri Zickefoose, Tony Seskus and Robert Remington, "Road to a massacre: Few could have predicted the bizarre twists after a young boy stumbles upon a triple slaying", National Post, April 29, 2006.
- ^ Zickefoose, Sherri, "Bodies of slain family flown to Ontario for funeral", National Post, May 1, 2006.
- ^ a b "12-year-old charged in Medicine Hat"[dead link], CBC.ca, April 24, 2006
- ^ "More charges possible in triple murders", Vancouver Sun, April 27, 2005.
- ^ Third person charged[dead link], Edmonton Journal, May 4, 2006
- ^ D'Aliesio, Renata, "If convicted, girl would be free in 10 years", Edmonton Journal, April 27, 2006.
- ^ "Sudbury family mourn murder victims". Northern Life (Laurentian Media Group). 2006-04-27. http://www.northernlife.ca/News/LocalNews/2006/04-27-06-homicideTOP.asp. Retrieved on 2006-06-19.
- ^ a b Breakenridge, Dave, "Pre-teen's tryst 'gross' Friends of 12-year-old accused killer disapproved of boyfriend, 23", Calgary Sun, April 28, 2006.
- ^ Girl on trial for murder agreed to marry lover, Toronto Star, June 30, 2007.
- ^ "Mother Of Accused Family Killer Speaks Out Against Vilification Of Son"[dead link], CityTV Calgary, April 26, 2006.
- ^ "Chilling stories emerge; Mother of accused in triple slaying denies her son was a werewolf"[dead link], Daily Herald-Tribune, April 28, 2006.
- ^ Algar, Selim, "'VAMPIRE' BLOG AN EERIE SITE"[dead link], New York Post, April 29, 2006.
- ^ Reynolds, Richard, "Accused killer, 12, linked to goth site", The Syndney Morning Herald, April 28, 2006.
- ^ "Medicine Hat Murder Suspects Appear in Court"[dead link], 630 CHED AM, April 26, 2006.
- ^ a b Walton, Dawn, "Net holds dark hints on slayings: Pair accused in deaths of Alberta family posted messages on notorious websites"[dead link], The Globe and Mail, April 26, 2006.
- ^ Johnsrude, Larry, "Goths say Medicine Hat killings give them bad name", Edmonton Journal, April 26, 2006.
- ^ a b "Medicine Hat girl guilty of first-degree murder". cbc.ca (CBC News). 2007-07-09. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/07/09/med-hat.html. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ "Teen gets maximum sentence for Medicine Hat killings". cbc.ca (CBC News). 2007-11-08. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/11/08/girl-sentence.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
- ^ ctv news story
[edit] Further reading
- Robert Remington and Sherri Zickefoose. Runaway Devil: How Forbidden Love Drove a Twelve-Year-Old to Murder Her Family. McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-0-7710-7360-1.
