Transcript: Opening statement by the Crown in the Jeremy Steinke trial

A copy of the opening address to the jury at the trial of Jeremy Steinke on Monday, Nov. 17, provided by the Crown prosecutor's office.

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A copy of the opening address to the jury, provided by the Crown prosecutor's office. The draft is substantially the same as what was delivered in court by Ramona Robins; however, it is not a verbatim account.

My lady, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. As you have heard my name is Ramona Robins and this is my colleague Brandy Shaw. We are both Crown prosecutors from Medicine Hat and we have come to Calgary to present to you the Crown's case. Mr. Steinke is charged with the first-degree murder of three citizens of Medicine Hat, [names removed]. Ms. Shaw and I will each present witnesses to you and they will provide the evidence in this case, as anything I say now is not evidence.

I am addressing you now simply to give you an overview of the Crown's case and the theory of the Crown regarding the murder of the [name removed] family. I hope this overview will give you a road map of our evidence and theory before we call the first witness.

The Crown's theory is that Mr. Steinke is guilty of first-degree murder because the murders were planned and deliberate. To understand the Crown's theory, I need to provide you with some background information surrounding the months leading up to the night of April 22 and 23, 2006, when the murders occurred.

First, I would like to tell you a little bit about the City of Medicine Hat. Medicine Hat is a small city of just over 60,000 people. It is 300 kilometres southeast of Calgary. Medicine Hat has its own police force with just over 100 officers, including patrol crews and forensic identification units who are crime scene investigators.

In April of 2006, the [name removed] family consisting of [names removed] lived at [address removed]. [Name removed] was 12 years old at the time and her little brother [name removed] was eight. The home was a four-level split. The first level had three bedrooms and a bathroom. The second level was the entranceway to the house with a living room and kitchen. The third level was a TV room with a computer and exercise equipment and the fourth and lowest level contained home offices of [names removed].

In the months leading up to April of 2006, [name removed] began a relationship with Mr. Steinke whom she had met through a friend. [Name removed]'s parents did not approve of the relationship, Mr. Steinke being 23 years old at the time and [name removed] only 12.

Conflict arose between [name removed] and her parents and at a local punk show she and Mr. Steinke were even caught kissing by her parents. [Name removed] hated her parents for restricting her relationship with Mr. Steinke.

As a way of continuing their relationship, [name removed] and Mr. Steinke exchanged chat messages on the internet site Nexopia, which is an online community for young people. [Name removed] and Mr. Steinke both had profile pages on that site that had usernames associated to them. On Nexopia [name removed]'s username was runawaydevil while Mr. Steinke's username was souleater.

On March 20, 2006 runawaydevil sent a message to souleater that begins, "Rawr, I hate them. So I have this plan, it begins with me killing them and ends with me living with you." March 21, 2006, souleater responds, "Well I love your plan but we need to get a little more creative with like details and stuff."

Mr. Steinke expressed his frustration with [name removed]'s parents both to his friends in person and through Nexopia. Knowing that [name removed]'s desire was to have her parents killed, Mr. Steinke began trying to recruit someone to help execute the plan.

On April 22, 2006, [names removed] were seen alive for the last time. During the day [name removed] had a play date with his neighbour and friend [name removed], who had supper with the [name removed] family and then left the [name removed]s to attend a hockey game. [Name removed] was last seen barbequing that supper on his deck by another neighbour.

In the early morning hours of April 23, 2006, the [name removed]s' neighbor heard noises in the night and their dog started barking.

At 1:10 pm in the afternoon on April 23, young [name removed] asked his Mom if he could play with [name removed] again. She tried to call the [name removed] but there was no answer, but she noticed [name removed]'s truck in the driveway so [name removed] ran up to the door to see if anyone was home.

He returned to his mother and told her she had to go to the [name removed]s because he saw bodies with blood through the window. [Name removed]'s mom looked through the third level window next to the front door and saw the bodies of a man and woman later identified as [names removed]. She called her Mom and then the police.

Medicine Hat Police Service officers attended immediately to the residence. The patrol sergeant confirmed there were bodies on the third level and had the front door rammed in order to search the remainder of the house.

Four officers entered the second level of the house. [Names removed]'s bodies were found on the floor in the third level of the house and [name removed]'s body was on the first level, lying in his bed.

All three of the [names removed] were deceased. In the living room was a family picture and the police recognized the three people as the bodies they had just found. But there was one more person found in that photograph, the [name removed]'s daughter, [name removed]. The police searched the house a second time fearing that she was also dead, but she was not in the house.

The officers left the house and secured the residence waiting for the crime scene investigators, the forensic identification unit to arrive.

While the forensic identification unit began to process the [name removed]'s home on April 23, 2006, in other areas of the city Mr. Steinke and [name removed] went to various residences where they were observed to be eating fast food and making out as well as discussing the murders and the cleanup. As a result of a conversation with Mr. Steinke, two young women moved and wiped down Mr. Steinke's truck.

As the investigation progressed there were two focuses, one was searching for [name removed] who the police thought was missing and the second was processing the scene and collecting evidence in order to try and identify who had murdered the [name removed]s.

To process the crime scene at the [name removed]'s residence police officers took photographs, which will be provided to you. They also analyzed footprints, examined fingerprints and seized two knives. One knife was located on the third level where [names removed]'s bodies were found. The second knife was found in the bathroom by [name removed]'s room on the first level.

Sgt. Serge Larocque of the RCMP was called in to assist because he is trained in blood stain pattern analysis. He will tell you about his role in the investigation and the report he produced after analyzing the blood stains in the [name removed]s home. To assist in the analysis of the stains that he identified, swabs were taken, some of which were sent for DNA analysis.

The [name removed]s' bodies were removed from their residence and taken to the medical examiner's office in Calgary where autopsies where performed. Dr. Litwin, a medical examiner who is trained in forensic pathology, will tell you he performed the autopsies of [names removed] and wrote autopsy reports for each of them. During the process, photographs were taken and these will be provided to you. DNA samples were also taken. Dr. Litwin will give you some information on how the autopsies were conducted and what his conclusions were regarding the cause of death. He concluded that each of the [name removed]s died as a result of stab wounds with the mechanism of injury being loss of blood.

So back to the other focus of the investigation, looking for [name removed]. In the course of searching for [name removed], the police were provided with information that Mr. Steinke and [name removed] had actually planned and executed the murders and left Medicine Hat. [Name removed] then went from being a missing person to a suspect in the murders.

The police followed up a lead that Mr. Steinke and [name removed] were on their way to Leader, Sask. Using an electronic bulletin, the Medicine Hat Police Service (MHPS) advised other police agencies, including the RCMP to be on the lookout for Mr. Steinke and [name removed], who were believed to be in a truck with Alberta plates.

After reviewing the bulletin, an RCMP officer stationed in Leader set up a stakeout on the two local gas stations. Early in the morning of April 24, 2006, he noticed a truck with a topper on the box with Alberta plates. The truck was parked at one of the stations and he followed it while calling for backup.

Mr. Steinke and [name removed] were found in the box of the truck. Three girls were also located in the cab. The truck was seized and later searched. Male clothing and shoes, a copy of the day's Medicine Hat News with a headline about the murders, [name removed]'s wallet, three knives and a neoprene mask were all located in that vehicle.

Members of the MHPS travelled to Leader and photographs were taken of Mr. Steinke, including an injury to his eye that was also observed by police. The MHPS took custody of Mr. Steinke and [name removed] and returned them to Medicine Hat.

While in custody in Medicine Hat, they exchanged letters, including one where Mr. Steinke proposes to [name removed]. These letters were seized and copied by the MHPS investigators.

On May 2, 2006, while being transported by two CAPS officers from the courthouse in Medicine Hat to the MHRC, Mr. Steinke was overheard to say to other prisoners that he "did" his girlfriend's mother and father and that she "did" her brother.

On May 4, 2006, Mr. Steinke was transported from MHRC to Calgary in a CAPS van. A MHPS undercover officer, Const. Both, assumed the role of a fellow prisoner and rode in the back of the van with Mr. Steinke. Their conversation was audio taped and that audio tape will be played and a transcript will be given to you.

Mr. Steinke told Const. Both he was responsible for the murder of the [name removed]s and gave details of the murders, including saying that he tried to talk [name removed] out of it but she wouldn't have it that way and he is a man of his word.

He also told Const. Both that he snuck in through the basement window while the [name removed]s were sleeping. He also said that [name removed] injured his eye in their struggle and when [name removed] asked him why, Mr. Steinke replied because your daughter wanted it that way.

You may be wondering what happened to the swabs and evidence that were seized from the [name removed]s' residence, the clothing, a mask and a knife that were seized from the truck Mr. Steinke was arrested in.

Some of those samples and exhibits were sent to the RCMP evidence recovery lab where DNA that was located was forwarded to the RCMP analytical section. Robert Schimpf, a forensic DNA analyst with the RCMP, prepared three reports detailing how he prepared the DNA profiles and compared them to known DNA samples that were obtained from [names removed]'s autopsies as well as Mr. Steinke himself.

Ladies and gentleman, as I said, the Crown's theory is that the murders of the [name removed] family were planned and deliberate. [Name removed] wanted her parents dead so she could be with Mr. Steinke.

Our theory is: she was the motive but he was the means. Mr. Steinke would do anything for [name removed] including participating in the planned and deliberate murders of her parents and her brother [name removed].

At the end of the case, I will address you again and ask you to consider all the evidence we have presented and to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Steinke is guilty of the first-degree murders of [names removed].