An Edmonton man charged in the death of Tiki Laverdiere pleaded guilty to unlawful confinement.
Thirty-three-year-old Charles St. Savard — one of 10 people charged in Laverdiere’s homicide — entered the guilty plea in North Battleford Provincial Court Jan. 11 via CCTV.
Crown prosecutor Charlotte Morden and defense Tim Nolin entered a joint submission. A charge of first-degree murder against St. Savard was withdrawn.
Morden asked the court for a sentence of 24 to 33 months imprisonment. Nolin asked the court for two years less a day. Justice Kevin Hill sentenced St. Savard to 14 months plus 20 days.
With credit for the nine months and nine days he has served in remand, St. Savard’s sentence equals two years less one day. St. Savard was ordered to submit a DNA sample and was given a lifetime prohibition on owning firearms.
Laverdiere, a 25-year-old mother of two from Edmonton, was reported missing to Battlefords RCMP on May 12, 2019. She was in Saskatchewan April 27, 2019, to attend the funeral of Tristen Cook-Buckle, 20, on Thunderchild First Nation.
RCMP found Laverdiere’s body in a rural area near North Battleford on July 11, 2019.
Over a one-year span, police arrested 10 people in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Others arrested included Nicole Cook, Soaring Eagle Whitstone, Shayla Orthner, Danita Thomas, Jesse Sangster, Nikita Sandra Cook, Samuel Takakenew, Brent Checkosis and Mavis Takakenew.
In May 2019, Mavis Takakenew and Brent Checkosis pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder and were sentenced to 18 months and seven years respectively.
The charges against the seven remaining co-accused haven’t been proven in court.
There is a ban on publication on the sentencing hearings for St. Savard, Checkosis and Mavis Takakenew until the trials of all the co-accused are finished.
Story by Lisa Joy, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter / Battlefords Regional News Optimist