february 1st, 2007 › briscoe-laboucan trial › nina courtepatte › deadmonton 2005 › deadmonton › edmonton

WARNING

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

Charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault were Michael Erin Briscoe, now 36, Joseph Wesley Laboucan, now 21, and three teens not identified by provision of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

One male teen, aged 19 and nicknamed "Pyro", pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in youth court in Stony Plain on December 8th, 2006. He was to be sentenced as an adult in April 2007.

Briscoe's girlfriend, now 19 and named "Cindy" in this narrative, went to trial March 12th, 2007. Pyro's girlfriend, now 17 and nicknamed "Buffy", had a trial date set for May 1st, 2007.

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Taking the stand after a one-day break in the trial of Michael Briscoe and Joseph Laboucan was the other of the two female juveniles also charged with Nina's murder.

Named "Cindy" for the purpose of this narrative, her case was set to go to trial on March 5th, 2007. At the time of Nina's death, she was aged 17 and was Michael Briscoe's girlfriend.

Like most of the other female juveniles who have taken the stand in this trial, Cindy described herself as a "mall rat" who called the West Edmonton shopping complex home.

When she met 34-year-old Briscoe in the fall of 2004, Cindy was hooked on crack cocaine, crystal meth and alcohol.

Managing to never find work, Briscoe spent all of his time keeping an eye on Cindy – watching that she stayed off drugs and also to make sure “she didn’t run around,” according to Cindy.

The couple had a room at the Windmill Motel on Edmonton's western edge when Cindy's ex-boyfriend, Joseph Laboucan, came to stay with them in March 2005.

Cindy said she had known Laboucan for about a year-and-a-half and reported the three got along well. Laboucan slept on the floor beside their bed.

Short for cash, they drove a car her uncle had given her. Briscoe did all of the driving, she said.

Wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and shackles on the stand, Cindy wept as she recalled the first time Joseph Laboucan brought up the idea of murdering someone.

On April 2nd, 2005 the trio spent the day driving around and roaming around West Edmonton Mall. They all got along well and were in a happy mood, she said.

Out of the blue, Laboucan raised the idea of finding someone to kill.

"He said 'I want to kill someone'," Cindy testified. "He just said it."

"Did he say for what purpose he wanted to kill someone?" asked Crown prosecutor Anne Schutte.

"For fun," Cindy replied. She broke down sobbing, wiping her eyes with tissues.

Schutte asked: “Didn’t someone say, 'This sounds like a real bad idea.' ”

“No,” Cindy answered.

She was surprised and shocked at the suggestion, but didn’t say anything. She said Briscoe, who was driving the car, didn’t say anything either.

The idea came up again when Briscoe, Cindy and Laboucan were at West Edmonton Mall, hanging around outside the Circuit Circus video arcade.

“He was going to randomly pick someone from the crowd,” Cindy testified. "He just picked her out of the crowd."

Laboucan went up to a group of teens hanging around the arcade and started to talk to Nina. Cindy said she had never Nina met before.

Laboucan told Nina and her friend Jane Doe they should join them and go to a bush party where there would be alcohol and ecstasy, Cindy said.

Later the three roomates met up with Pyro and Buffy. Cindy said she and Pyro smoked a marijuana joint that night, against Briscoe’s wishes, but the rest of them consumed no alcohol or drugs.

After picking up Nina and Jane, Laboucan gave driving directions to Briscoe, according to a statement read into the court record. The statement was one that Cindy had given police after her arrest on April 11th, 2005.

Once near the golf course, Briscoe stopped the car outside a steel gate. Buffy, Pyro, Nina and Jane walked ahead through a field.

Laboucan went into the trunk of the Ford Tempo and pulled out some tools, including a mallet, pliers and a wrench. He handed Cindy the wrench.

At first she refused to take the two-foot wrench, but eventually relented and hid it in the sleeve of her jacket.

Briscoe stayed in the car, the rest of the group walked away. Nina licked a sucker as she walked, according to Cindy's statement.

"Where is the party?" Nina asked at one point. Cindy said Laboucan then told a story to Nina and Jane.

“It was about a ritual and vampires and bringing someone back from the dead. There was something about a triangle.”

Cindy told police Nina started to scream and "Pyro kind of turned cold-hearted then. He had a different tone in his voice, like he didn't care. He told Nina to shut up in a rude way."

Cindy claimed she didn't know Nina was Laboucan's intended victim.

The Crown then asked the witness to describe what happened next.

"Joseph Laboucan asked me to hit Nina with the wrench. I told him no, and he asked me again."

"I told him no. He asked me again and I hit her in the middle of the back."

"Why did you hit her with the wrench?" Cindy was asked.

"He [Laboucan] wouldn't stop asking me."

"When Joe was asking you to hit Nina, did Joe seem afraid at all?" prosecutor Schutte asked.

"No," Cindy replied.

"Did he seem frozen with fear?"

"No," Cindy repeated.

After being hit with the wrench, Nina stumbled forward, regained her balance, then asked Cindy why she had been hit.

“I said I was sorry,” Cindy testified.

She said Laboucan then asked Nina to take off her pants. Nina just stood there.

“[Buffy] came up to her and said, 'It’s a girls thing,' and undid her button and undid her pants,” Cindy testified.

Buffy and Pyro then got Nina to lay down on the ground. Laboucan then had sexual intercourse with the 13-year-old.

“Once she told him he was hurting her. He told her to stop squirming.”

During the rape, Cindy said she held Nina's hand.

"I felt sick, like I was going to vomit," she said.

At that point, Briscoe arrived. Jane said she was cold so Cindy took her back to the car. They could hear Nina screaming as they left.

Fifteen minutes later everyone returned to the car – everyone except Nina.

Cindy said Laboucan had blood on him.

Upon cross-exmination, Briscoe's lawyer Charles Davison had Cindy admit she couldn't remember if Laboucan made his 'I want to kill' statement in the car or in the mall.

She also said she couldn't remember if Briscoe heard the statement, or if he was with Laboucan when he chose Nina out of the crowd.

The trial continued February 2nd, 2007

A list of persons named in this case can be found at the bottom of the main Briscoe-Laboucan trial page.

deadmonton 2005 - nina courtepatte - briscoe-laboucan trial - february 1st, 2007