Charges have been stayed against two teens accused of first-degree murder for the double homicide of Susan Trudel and Barry Boenke.
“Unbelievable,” Trudel’s sister, Wendy Shearer, said Friday from Ontario. “It’s horrible.”
The Crown filed a stay of proceedings for one year Friday morning, after a trial judge ruled a statement one of the teens gave to police was inadmissible in court, said David Dear, spokesman for Alberta Justice. The statement was a critical piece of evidence, Dear said, without which there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
Police discovered the bodies of Boenke, 68, and Trudel, 50, on a rural Strathcona County property in June 2009 when officers went to check on the owner of an apparently stolen truck recovered in Edmonton with two teenage boys behind the wheel. Boenke’s body was discovered in the yard, Trudel’s in her trailer.
Police believe the boys, both 14 at the time, had run away from the Bosco Homes youth treatment facility, which was 10 kilometres from Boenke’s property. RCMP allege the boys killed Boenke and Trudel before taking the truck.
The teens allegedly went on a rampage over the next few days, breaking into vehicles and homes, stealing weapons and firing a pellet pistol at pedestrians and cars on Whyte Avenue before Edmonton police caught up to them after receiving a complaint about dangerous driving.
The Crown met with family members for over two hours Thursday to inform them the charges would be stayed. Relatives initially thought the prosecution had a solid case, Shearer said, and are stunned at the turn of events.
“We would really like them to give us more answers. … Why can someone do that and walk away?” said Shearer, 47.
“It’s not right. This can’t just go away.”
Boenke’s widow said she is “horrified” the teens might never face a trial.
Judy Breitkreitz said she met with Crown prosecutors and police, who explained the decision was a result of the judge’s ruling in late May that excluded the key piece of evidence. She said she disagrees with that ruling, which she expected would ruin the prosecutor’s case.
“I’m so outraged because of it,” Breitkreitz said Friday. “It boggles the mind. … Although I was expecting it, it takes a while to process it.”
Although a lawyer is examining whether there are grounds for the Crown to appeal, Breitkreitz believes that is unlikely. Now, she hopes someone will come forward with more evidence so the Crown can relaunch its case.
“It’s certainly not their fault,” Breitkreitz said of the Crown prosecutors. “They did their work and the police did as well.”
Breitkreitz said it is difficult to move on without having a trial.
“A trial is what you expect and out of that you expect that justice will be done, and I would have lived with whatever decision was made at that time,” she said.
“The law is not made for victims. It’s made for lawyers so they can find a loophole, particularly when youth are involved. Police and everybody has to jump through so many additional hoops. It’s just ludicrous.”
Breitkreitz said she worries public safety is in jeopardy.
“They could be placed anywhere and there’s no obligation, in whatever community they’re placed in, to have that community know that they’re there.”
The teens are wards of the province, and will go back into care now that they have been released, said Stuart Elson, spokesman for the ministry of Children and Youth Services. Elson could not comment on specifics of the care the teens would receive, but said the ministry will take into account the “unique” circumstances of these individuals.
“These two youths will be well supervised and in situations specially tailored to meet their needs,” he said. “The supervision necessary, the care they need, counselling, community safety – all those factors are being considered.”
Elson said one-on-one supervision and 24-hour monitoring can be arranged for cases that warrant it.
Const. Wally Henry of the Strathcona County RCMP said there is no cause for alarm over the teens’ release, and that people should take regular precautions to ensure their safety.
Henry could not comment on whether there are other suspects in the murders as the case is being actively investigated. He said police strongly believe there are other witnesses.
“There are people out there with information that will continue to assist us with the investigation,” he said. “For one reason or another, they have chosen not to be involved.”
The Crown has 30 days to appeal the judge’s decision that made the evidence inadmissible. The Crown can choose to resurrect the charges at any time should new evidence arise as there is no time limit for prosecuting a murder.
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