An Edmonton man charged in connection to the murder of Tiki Laverdiere will stand trial in Battleford Court of Queen’s Bench in January 2023.
Jesse Sangster, 23, is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and improperly interfering with a human body. He elected to be tried by judge alone.
After a three-week preliminary hearing last year in North Battleford Provincial Court, Judge Kevin D. Hill ruled in October 2020 that there was enough evidence for Sangster to stand trial.
Sangster is one of 10 people charged in connection to the murder of Laverdiere. She was reported missing to Battlefords RCMP May 12, 2019. Her body was found July 11, 2019, in a rural area outside of North Battleford.
Laverdiere, 25, from Edmonton, was in North Battleford in April 2019 for a funeral on Thunderchild First Nation.
Three of the 10 charged have been sentenced. In 2020, Brent Checkosis was given seven years on charges of accessory after the fact to murder and Mavis Takakenew was given 18 months on the same charge. In January 2021, Charles St. Savard, 33, of Edmonton, pleaded guilty to kidnapping with intent to unlawfully confine. He was sentenced to 14 months and 20 days.
There is a ban on publication on the details from the sentencing hearings until the trials of all the co-accused are finished.
The charges against the remaining co-accused haven’t been proven in court.