march 12th, 2007 › the "cindy" trial › nina louise courtepatte › deadmonton 2005 › deadmonton › edmonton

Nina Louise Courtepatte, 13, died from blunt force trauma on April 3rd, 2005.

Two adults and three teens, not identified by provision of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, were charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault.

Michael Erin Briscoe and Joseph Wesley Laboucan were awaiting a judge's decision in their own trial as the case against a second teen, nicknamed "Cindy" for the purpose of this narrative, began.

Cindy, now 19, was Michael Briscoe's girlfriend and she already testified as a Crown witness at his trial.

One male teen, nicknamed "Pyro," pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on December 8th, 2006. He was to be sentenced as an adult in April 2007. Pyro's girlfriend, nicknamed "Buffy," had a trial date set for May 1st, 2007.

the "cindy" trial | march 13th, 2007 >>

The trial of the second young offender charged in connection with the death of Nina Courtepatte began without much attention from the media despite her prominent role in closing arguments forwarded by Joseph Laboucan's defence lawyer.

"Cindy," who cannot be identified under provision of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, sat alone in the prisoner’s dock, wearing glasses with long black hair and a white sweater and jeans. Standing nearby was a female sheriff.

The hearing took place before Court of Queen's Bench Justice June Ross and a jury selected the week before.

Representing the teen was defence lawyer Colleen Connolly.

The trial opened with Cindy entering a barely audible not guilty plea to the charges of kidnap, aggravated sexual assault and first-degree murder.

The Crown then began its case by placing Nina Courtepatte's mother, Peacha Atkinson, on the stand.

Anxiously wringing a handkerchief in her hands, Peacha was so eager to testify that the court reporter had to ask her to slow down as she spelled her name. It was her first appearance as a witness.

The diminutive aboriginal woman described her daughter as a fun, loving, headstrong and “very independent” young teenager.

In the spring of 2005, Nina was in Grade 7 at Britannia School had temporarily withdrawn to attend classes at the Cheemo program, designed to teach youth life skills.

“They just teach them how to control their attitude,” Atkinson related.

It was that attitude Nina's mother said had caused her some grief.

"She used to like to run and hide in the dark outside and make me panic,” she said of Nina.

Sometimes it made Atkinson so worried that she would call the police. Invariably, Nina always came home.

Nina was very assertive, Atkinson said, and stood up for her two younger siblings.

“She would always look after her brother and sister. She would fight for their rights.”

At school and at home, if Nina felt someone was wrong, she would confront them – whether it was a teacher or a brother or a sister – it mattered not.

"If she knew a teacher was wrong, she would confront them in class," she said.

Nina was also a very pretty girl, her mother said. And she had just won a modelling contest.

“She wanted to become a model or an actress.”

It was just before school on April 1st, 2005 that Peacha last saw her 13-year-old daughter.

Later that day and after school, Nina phoned her to ask if she could sleep over at her friend Kitty's [referred to elsewhere in this narrative as "Jane Doe"].

The next day, April 2nd, Nina again called to make the same request. It was the last time Peacha or her common-law husband Tim Courtepatte ever spoke with Nina, and they agreed to the sleep over.

Jane had testified at the Briscoe-Laboucan trial that after school on that same day of April 2nd, she had told her mother she was going to sleep over at Nina's house.

But the girls didn't go to any sleep over, not at Nina’s place or at Jane’s place.

Instead they went to West Edmonton Mall, and then to what they thought was a bush party on a golf course. It was there that Nina was raped and killed early on the morning of April 3rd.

All this came as a great surprise to Peacha Atkinson. She testified that Nina didn’t usually frequent the large shopping complex.

And when the RCMP came to her door and told her the names of the five people charged with killing her daughter, Peacha Atkinson said she had never heard their names before: Joseph Laboucan, Michael Briscoe, two "mall rat" teens nicknamed Pyro and Buffy – or the then 17-year-old now on trial and sitting across the courtroom from her in the prisoner's box.

The second Crown witness called to testify was RCMP forensics specialist Cpl. Sharon Smith.

Smith was one of several investigators to examine the crime scene at the Edmonton Springs Golf Course Resort on the morning of April 4th, 2005.

At the Briscoe-Laboucan trial, Cpl. Smith played a police video that showed the body of Nina Courtepatte lying face-up near the 100-yard marker on the course's fourth fairway.

Blood soaked the grass where her body laid. One of her shoes was found nearby.

The graphic video focused on Nina's misshapen body, her face bruised, swollen, lacerated – battered and unrecognisable – covered in blood, with evidence of repeated blows that crushed the bone of her skull.

Nina's clothing was bunched up around the upper portion of her body.

“It appears she had been dragged by her ankles for a short distance,” testified Cpl. Smith at the earlier trial.

Smith went on to point out key items of evidence collected at the scene ...

... a blue set of pliers alongside a sucker-stick, some coins and a cigarette butt.

Throughout the day's proceedings, Cindy showed little emotion. The native woman sat in the prisoner's box staring into the distance, with her arms folded across her chest.

The trial continued March 13th, 2007

deadmonton 2005 - nina louise courtepatte - the "cindy" trialmarch 12th, 2007

deadmonton 2005 - nina louise courtepatte - the "cindy" trial
march 12th, 2007