Richardson family murders
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The Richardson family murders involved the murder of three members of the family in Medicine Hat, Alberta.[1] The bodies of Marc Richardson (age 42), his wife Debra (age 48), and their son Jacob (age 8) were found by a friend of Jacob on April 23, 2006 at 1 p.m.[2][3][4] Absent from the home at the time of the discovery was Jasmine Richardson,[2][1] the couple's 12[5] year old daughter (early news reports said she was 13[2]). Jasmine was arrested the next day in the nearby community of Leader, Saskatchewan with her 23 year-old boyfriend Jeremy Allan Steinke, both charged with the three murders. [5][6] Later, on May 3, 2006, Kacy Lancaster was charged with being an accessory after the fact. She is accused of disposing of evidence[7].
Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act the name of Jasmine Richardson could no longer be published in Canada after she became a suspect. However, by the time of her arrest, her name had already been widely published. 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).[8] Jasmine Richardson became the youngest person ever charged with a multiple murder in Canadian history.[9]
According to friends of Jasmine, who was in grade seven,[10] Jasmine's 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 Richardson's 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] Jasmine also had a page at the same site, leading to speculation they met there.[16] However, later, an acquaintance of Steinke 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] Jasmine'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, Jasmine Richardson was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in the killings. [20] On November 8, 2007, she was sentenced to the maximum allowable sentence of ten years, 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. She is currently the youngest person in Canadian history to be convicted of a multiple murder.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Three bodies discovered in Medicine Hat home", ctv.ca, April 24, 2006.
- ^ a b c Dohy, Leanne. "Triple murder shocks city: Medicine Hat girl missing, family dead", Calgary Herald, 2006-04-24, p. A.1.. 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", CBC.ca, April 24, 2006
- ^ "More charges possible in triple murders", Vancouver Sun, April 27, 2005.
- ^ Third person charged, Edmonton Journal, May 4, 2006
- ^ D'Aliesio, Renata, "If convicted, girl would be free in 10 years", Edmonton Journal, April 27, 2006.
- ^ Lohr, David. "Jasmine Richardson and Jeremy Steinke to Stand Trial for Murder", Court TV Crime Library, Court TV, January 17, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-01-27.
- ^ "Sudbury family mourn murder victims", Northern Life, Laurentian Media Group, 2006-04-27. 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", CityTV Calgary, April 26, 2006.
- ^ "Chilling stories emerge; Mother of accused in triple slaying denies her son was a werewolf", Daily Herald-Tribune, April 28, 2006.
- ^ Algar, Selim, "'VAMPIRE' BLOG AN EERIE SITE", 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", 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", The Globe and Mail, April 26, 2006.
- ^ Johnsrude, Larry, "Goths say Medicine Hat killings give them bad name", Edmonton Journal, April 26, 2006.
- ^ "Medicine Hat girl guilty of first-degree murder", cbc.ca, CBC News, 2007-07-09. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ "Teen gets maximum sentence for Medicine Hat killings", cbc.ca, CBC News, 2007-11-08. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
