Two people charged in connection to the murder of Tiki Laverdiere had appearances scheduled in North Battleford Provincial Court Feb. 19.
Jesse Sangster鈥檚 appearance was waived. He remains in custody and is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and improperly interfering with a human body.
North Battleford Senior Crown Prosecutor Chris Browne and Prince Albert defence lawyer Rebecca Crookshanks asked the court that the matter be adjourned to May 28, 2021. Crookshanks said on that date Sangster, 23, will enter an election on how he wants to be tried. After a three-week preliminary hearing last year, Judge Kevin D. Hill听ruled in October 2020 that there was enough evidence for Sangster to stand trial.
Samuel Takakenew, 36, also had an appearance Feb. 19. At the time that his matter was dealt with, Takakenew wasn鈥檛 in the courtroom and his appearance was waived. Judge Murray Pelletier said let the record reflect that Takakenew did come to the courthouse in person and he was screened out in the COVID-19 screening process done prior to court starting. Takakenew is currently out on bail. He is charged with accessory to murder after the fact.
Sangster and Takakenew are two of 10 people charged in connection to the murder of Laverdiere. From July 2019 to August 2020, the RCMP made arrests in Saskatchewan and Alberta for Laverdiere鈥檚 murder.
Laverdiere was reported missing to Battlefords RCMP May 12, 2019. Her body was found July 11, 2019, during an RCMP ground search 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.
Two of the 10 charged have been sentenced.
Brent Checkosis was sent to prison for seven years on charges of accessory after the fact to murder. Mavis Takakenew was given 18 months on the same charge. With credit for time served while waiting for her trial, Mavis Takakenew was released from prison in 2020. There is a ban on publication on the sentencing hearings for Checkosis and Mavis Takakenew until the trials of all the co-accused are finished.
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