Michael Briscoe has been sentenced to life in prison for the death of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte. Briscoe was found guilty of first-degree murder with no chance of parole for 25 years. Charges of sexual assault and kidnapping associated with the 2005 killing were conditionally stayed.
After hearing the sentence, Courtepatte’s mother went outside the Law Courts to speak with the media and was applauded by the crowd gathered there. Peacha Atkinson says “it’s a good ending that he was finally convicted of first-degree.” However, she adds that, for herself and her family, “there will never be any closure.”
Briscoe, 41, was found not guilty in the murder of Ellie May Meyer, who was killed two days earlier.
In his ruling Wednesday, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Keith Yamauchi read excerpts from a 108-page decision, in which he cited Joseph Laboucan as the main culprit, and considered Briscoe as a possible accessory who drove the car to both murder scenes.
Yamauchi repeatedly labelled Briscoe an unreliable witness who deliberately exaggerated and fabricated statements, portraying himself as a “concerned and benevolent innocent” in Courtepatte’s murder.
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“Briscoe fabricated crucial aspects of his testimony,” Yamauchi said. “He lied.”
On April 3, 2005, the teen was lured from West Edmonton Mall by a small group who promised to take her to a rave. Instead, they drove her to a golf course, where she was twice raped, then beaten to death. Her body was found the next day on a fairway.
Although Briscoe didn’t sexually assault or kill the 13-year-old, he “knew or ought to have known” she would be murdered, Yamauchi ruled, adding that Briscoe aided in the sexual assaults.
Briscoe admittedly drove the car to the golf course, but denied any knowledge that the four people with him planned to kill the girl. He testified that he never harmed Courtepatte and was afraid for his own life that night. Other witnesses testified that violence was previously discussed in front of Briscoe and he helped choose the tools that Courtepatte was assaulted with.
Five or six times that day, Laboucan had said “I feel like killing someone,” Yamauchi noted, and had kept Meyer’s pinky finger from the previous killing.
Briscoe was an accessory to the murder, Yamauchi said, since he drove the group to the golf course, and provided a set of pliers to Laboucan.
“Briscoe may not have known all the details, but he knew that fact,” he said. “Briscoe knew of Laboucan’s intent and plan to kill someone.”
The verdict is likely one of the last chapters in the Courtepatte murder case. Four young people in the car with Briscoe and Courtepatte that night are already serving prison sentences for their roles in her death.
Bird was never charged in Meyer’s death, but was found guilty of murder in the Courtepatte killing.
Briscoe was previously found not guilty of murder in Courtepatte’s death, though a new trial was ordered on appeal. It is the first time Briscoe has faced a trial in connection with Meyer’s death.
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