A Regina man has pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of two aboriginal women who disappeared three years ago.
Clayton Eichler’s trial was to begin Monday on charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of Kelly Goforth and Richele Bear, but instead, he entered the guilty plea.
Court heard Goforth’s body was found in a dumpster, wrapped in garbage bags and then put in a hockey bag.
Crown prosecutor Bill Burge said Goforth was strangled and DNA led investigators to Eichler.
Burge said a search of Eichler’s home then turned up photos of Bear with marks around her neck, although her body has not been found.
The Crown and defence have made a joint submission that Eichler serve 20 years of his automatic life sentence before being eligible for parole.
“There was a path to first degree. It wasn’t a dead certain path, but there was a path that met the test for prosecution. There were risks and we felt this was a compromise we could live with and that’s why we took the plea to second-degree,” said Burge.
Victim impact statements are scheduled to be heard Tuesday in Court of Queen’s Bench in Regina before sentencing.
Two indigenous groups issued a news release in advance of the trial supporting the women’s families.
The File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council and the Regina Treaty-Status Indian Services office said the women, both in their early 20s, were valued daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, granddaughters, cousins and friends.
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Goforth was also the mother of a young son.
“There will be aspects of Kelly and Richele’s lifestyles that will be exposed to the public,” the release said.
It is the responsibility of all of us as citizens to understand the realities and the vulnerabilities of our indigenous women are due to the immense poverty that is often faced by our indigenous people in the cities.
“As such, indigenous women are forced to put themselves at greater risk for harm.”
The release said women should never expect that any lifestyle choice should make them a target for predators to hurt them or end their lives.
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