The family of a 37-year-old Calgary woman have been waiting four years to get some answers about why she was killed and her body dumped in a field near Okotoks, Alta.
On Monday, the trial for four people accused of murdering Tara Miller began in a Calgary courtroom, with the first of many witnesses being called in what is expected to be up six weeks of testimony.
“I’m nervous, I am anxious. I’m excited to get some closure if we can, but I know it’s going to be long,” said the victim’s sister, Jennifer Miller.
“The stress and the sadness, the grief compounded, it’s taken a long time,” added Miller, who attended court with friends and relatives wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Justice For Tara” on the front and a photo of her sister on the back.
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During opening statements, the Crown prosecutor said the evidence will include a video said to show Tara being led from her home and into a stolen truck the night of her death.
Her body, with traces of fentanyl in her system, was found on March 30, 2023, near the intersection of Highway 552 and 128 Street, northeast of Okotoks.
She suffered from many injuries including blunt force trauma.
Miller’s mother, Garnita Van Tassell, told Global News, following the murder, that her daughter lived a high-risk lifestyle and “had a long history of living on the streets” but would “do anything for anybody,” describing her daughter as “a free spirit.”
Greg Schuster, Gurpreeet Gill, Jared Burke and Shyana Popplestone are all charged with first degree murder and all of them have pleaded not guilty.
Their lawyers declined to speak to the media on the first day of the trial.
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