Sentencing arguments are expected to be heard today for a Newfoundland man convicted in the bizarre case of skeletal remains stolen from an Anglican cemetery.
Lucas Dawe, 20, pleaded guilty to a charge of interfering with human remains in St. John’s provincial court last month.
The Conception Bay South man still faces charges of possession of stolen property – the remains – and disobeying a court order related to prior theft charges.
READ MORE: Newfoundland man pleads not guilty in case of skeleton stolen from graveyard
Details of the unusual crime are expected to be revealed at the sentencing hearing, giving some clarity to rumours that have swirled since police launched an investigation into what they called “quite old” skeletal remains found on April 6.
Following Dawe’s arrest, the charges were amended to situate the offence between November 2017 and April 2019, suggesting the bones may have been removed more than a year before their discovery on a recreational trail this spring.
The province’s chief medical examiner told The Canadian Press in April that the remains were taken from a mausoleum-style tomb and belonged to someone who died in the 1800s.