deadmonton 2005 - nina louise courtepatte - the "cindy" trial

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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 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.


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Nina Louise Courtepatte

A month had passed since local homicide detectives were last called out, but the first murder of the spring of 2005 found them dealing with an unidentified young female who was found bludgeoned to death on an Edmonton area golf course.


On April 4th, 2005 a groundskeeper inspecting the fourth fairway of the Edmonton Springs Golf Course Resort, located 30 km west of downtown Edmonton, found a teen's body as the winter's snow was receding.


Due to the severity of the beating, dental records were required to identify her.


By April 15th, 2005 RCMP had laid charges of first degree murder against five people.


For a complete recounting of events prior to the start of the trials, visit the Nina Louise Courtepatte page.


"Cindy" had been called as a Crown witness in the trial of Michael Briscoe and Joseph Laboucan.


At the time of Nina's death, she was aged 17 and was Briscoe's girlfriend. Cindy described herself as a "mall rat" who called the West Edmonton Mall 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.


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. Court heard that Cindy's prior relationship with Laboucan had ended without a formal breakup.


On the stand she testified that it was Laboucan who first brought up the idea of murdering someone.


After allegedly helping to abduct Nina and her friend Jane from West Edmonton Mall, she said she was forced to hit Nina with a wrench when the group was on an isolated golf course west of the city.


Cindy told the court of her childhood spent in foster care, living with and running away from relatives and often ending up in group homes.


She said she was diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Attention Deficit Disorder, suffered from depression and frequently gave herself self-inflicted cuts on her arms.


Despite her testimony at the Briscoe-Laboucan trial, transcripts of previous interviews with police Cindy indicated she had known Nina for quite some time and that they had often played video games together in an arcade at the mall.


With the verdict in the Briscoe-Laboucan trial yet to be decided, Cindy faced a judge in youth court to answer to charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault.


The trial was expected to last six weeks.



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Related Developments




January 22nd, 2007


The first-degree murder trial of Michael Erin Briscoe and Joseph Wesley Laboucan began in Edmonton's Provincial Law Courts Building.


The pair were also charged with kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault. The trial was expected to take six weeks.


Local media had their hands full with competing and breaking murder stories demanding the lead story as the Briscoe-Laboucan trial got underway.


The trial of Briscoe and Laboucan in the case of Nina Courtepatte's murder began with Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Brian Burrows not inviting lawyers to make opening statements » full details »


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March 1st, 2007


For over a month, Peacha Atkinson had been sitting in an Edmonton courtroom listening to her daughter Nina being described as a simple street kid, a gullible girl who lived in the fantasy world of West Edmonton Mall.


"Nina was not a mall rat," Peacha said defiantly.


After weeks of enduring horrific testimony in the trial of Michael Briscoe and Joseph Laboucan, the diminutive woman could take it no longer and spoke out against the image being painted of her daughter in court.


"That's not at all who she was," Atkinson insisted » full details »


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March 5th, 2007


"Nothing that happened out there has the air of reality to it," Crown prosecutor John Watson said. "To try and judge it by our standards is difficult."


Watson then spent the entire day going over a timeline of events leading up to Nina's death that he said was consistent among all the witnesses.


"It was a planned and deliberate killing. We have a plan here to kill someone which was formulated at West Edmonton Mall" » full details »


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March 5th, 2007


Nina Courtepatte's mother, Peacha Atkinson, and dozens of others held an emotional rally outside Edmonton's Law Courts building.


Amid the sound of a Unity drum song, families angry over what they feel were lenient sentences for violent young offenders gathered to collect signatures on petitions to be sent to the federal government to demand tougher sentencing.


Atkinson was motivated to joins the ranks of Kelly Rolston and Gary Hunt in their effort to bring change to the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Day after day of facing the men accused of murdering her daughter, Atkinson said she had to do something » full details »


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March 6th, 2007


If Michael Briscoe was simply out at the scene watching and did nothing to stop the attack, that wasn't enough to convict him, said defence lawyer Charles Davison.


"She wasn't killed because Mr. Briscoe touched her or told her to calm down. She wasn't killed because Mr. Briscoe drove her."


Davison said that even if Michael Briscoe knew about a plan to kill Nina Courtepatte, the worst he should be found guilty of is manslaughter » full details »


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March 7th, 2007


Using words like "fall guy" and "marked man," Joseph Laboucan's defence lawyer Laurie Wood presented her closing arguments before Court of Queen's Bench Justice Brian Burrows.


Wood told Burrows of a theory, much of it speculation she admitted, with enough merit to create a real and substantial doubt of her client's culpability in the death of Nina Courtepatte.


Laboucan had the most to lose and the least to gain by killing Nina, Wood said » full details »


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Why Edmonton? A Silent March For Justice


On March 10th, 2007 hundreds of Albertans whose lives have been touched by violence gathered in Edmonton's Sir Winston Churchill Square.


They had come together to collect signatures on petitions calling for stiffer penalties under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.


One of the surprise faces at the rally was Peacha Atkinson, Nina's mother. She said the many recent acts of violence spurred her to action.


"I just got tired of sitting and reading it in the newspaper," she said. "The youths are still getting away with it, and I want to stop it because it's just getting out of hand" » full details »


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March 12th, 2007


The diminutive aboriginal woman described her daughter as a fun, loving, headstrong and “very independent” young teenager during the first testimony in the trial of a now 19-year-old young offender named "Cindy."


And when the RCMP told Peacha Atkinson the names of the five people charged with killing her daughter, she said she had never before heard their names: 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 » full details »


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March 13th, 2007


On April 4th, 2005 golf course owner Mike Kachuk spotted something unusual at about 2:40 in the afternoon.


Kachuk came across what he thought was a tarp that had blown off a load of lumber. He walked closer and saw it was a body.


Thinking it was somebody having a nap he said, "Get up lazy, you can't be sleeping here" » full details »


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March 14th, 2007


When the others had returned from the golf course without Nina, Jane said she noticed Joseph Laboucan's hands and arms were covered in blood.


Jane testified that Laboucan told her that he would "put her in a ditch" if she talked about what happened.


Jane's mother broke down repeatedly on the stand recalling how she put the pieces together, that the girl whose body was found on the golf course might be Nina Courtepatte » full details »


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March 20th, 2007


Three days shy of learning his own fate while facing first-degree murder charges in Nina's death, Michael Briscoe took the stand and testified against his former girlfriend.


Briscoe maintained he had nothing to do with Nina's murder. He also stated he felt Joseph Laboucan was jealous of his relationship with Cindy.


"He was looking at me in the mirror a couple of times so I was pretty paranoid," related Briscoe.


The man testified he was afraid of his friends, adding he was sure he was going to be beat up and have his car stolen.


"I was paranoid to go in the dark with a group of kids," Briscoe testified » full details »



March 23rd, 2007


The much-anticipated verdict in the trial of Joseph Laboucan and Michael Briscoe led authorities to move the hearing to the largest space in Edmonton's Law Courts Building.


When the session convened, a packed courtroom waited for Court of Queen's Bench Justice Brian Burrows to announce his decision in a case largely built on the testimony of a group of self-described liars, most of whom faced charges in Nina's death themselves » full details »


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March 26th, 2007


Absent from the media spotlight of the day was Peacha Atkinson, Nina's mother.


While the trial of Joseph Laboucan and Michael Briscoe had ended, for the diminutive aboriginal woman reliving the ordeal of her daughter's death had yet to finish.


During a break in the "Cindy" trial and three days after Justice Burrows' decision, Atkinson spoke about how she felt when the verdicts for Briscoe and Laboucan were read » full details »


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April 10th, 2007


The last day of the trial was highlighted by a ruling Justice June Ross gave regarding the admissibility of statements Cindy made to her parents and social worker.


The ruling concluded the Crown's case against the teen.


Cindy's defence lawyer didn't call any witnesses, causing the trial to proceed to the presentation of final arguments » full details »


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April 13th, 2007


An Alberta Justice spokesman said that the Crown decided to appeal the March 23rd, 2007 acquittal of Michael Briscoe after "careful review" of the judge's written decision.


"It is important to note the Crown can only appeal an acquittal if we believe a judge interpreted the law incorrectly or applied the wrong law," the spokesman said.


The Crown will argue in the Court of Appeal of Alberta that Burrows made several errors in law » full details »


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April 17th, 2007


On the day Pyro was to be sentenced the young offender announced he had changed lawyers. His new legal counsel requested a delay in the sentencing to allow for a review of the case » full details »


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April 19th, 2007


Six days after the Crown announced its appeal of Michael Briscoe's acquittal, the other adult charged with the death of Nina Courtepatte filed his own appeal.


Joseph Laboucan filed his papers with the Alberta Court of Appeal and asked they grant him a new trial. Laboucan claims the judge presiding over his case made a series of errors in law » full details »


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April 23rd, 2007


Closing arguments in the trial of the second teen charged with the murder of Nina Courtepatte took place with Crown prosecutor John Watson presenting his case first.


Watson said "Cindy" knew of fellow mall rat Joseph Laboucan's plan to kill Nina Courtepatte and pointed to evidence that suggested Laboucan had told her at least the day before the murder.


Only two spectators were in the gallery to listen to Watson's arguments – one of them Peacha Atkinson, Nina's mother » full details »


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April 30th, 2007


Justice June Ross ruled that a 19-year-old woman charged with the beating death of Nina Courtepatte was not guilty of first-degree murder.


The judge did find "Cindy" guilty of manslaughter » full details »


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May 7th, 2007


On the day a fourth teen charged with Nina Courtepatte's death was to go to trial, the now 17-year-old fired her lawyer. The move prompted a delay in the proceedings for possibly as long as a year.


"I believe I do want to dismiss him and get a new lawyer," the girl nicknamed Buffy said in court.


The teen's decision led to a sharp rebuke from Court of Queen's Bench Justice Sterling Sanderman who was to oversee the case » full details »


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May 9th, 2007


Nine days after Justice June Ross found 19-year-old "Cindy" guilty of manslaughter, the Crown announced it would launch an appeal of the verdict.


Prosecutors John Watson and Anne Schutte are of the opinion that Justice Ross erred when she found that the then 17-year-old teen had provided "unequivocal" and "timely" notice that she was abandoning the attack on Nina when she left the crime scene » full details »


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May 23rd, 2007


On December 8th, 2006 a young offender nicknamed "Pyro" pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in a Stony Plain youth court. Charges of kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea.


On April 17th, 2007 Pyro was to be sentenced but the young offender announced he had changed lawyers.


Now facing the new sentencing date, Pyro's new lawyer requested more time from the court to decide whether he would take on the teen's case » full details »


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June 4th, 2007


The first teen to plead guilty in the case of Nina Courtepatte appeared in court and explained he had earlier wanted to change his plea with the help of a new lawyer.


Pyro then re-entered his original guilty plea and as a result the court ordered the man to undergo a psychiatric assessment over the summer » full details »


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July 16th, 2007


Justice June Ross was expected to hear sentencing arguments from Crown and defence lawyers. Instead Ross heard a single argument from the defence, challenging the constitutionality of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.


Cindy's lawyer, Colleen Connolly, argued the current onus of having the defence prove that a young offender should be sentenced as a youth violates her client's constitutional rights » full details »


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