A 34-year-old Onion Lake Cree Nation woman accused of killing Tiki Brook-Lyn Laverdiere elected to be tried by judge and jury.
The trial for Soaring Eagle Whitstone is scheduled for August 2022 in Battleford Court of Queen’s Bench. Whitstone is one of 10 people charged with the brutal murder of Laverdiere in North Battleford last year.
Trials have also been set for Nikita Cook, Shayla Orthner, and Danita Thomas, for August 2021, April 2022, and January 2022 respectively. They also elected to be tried by judge and jury.
Trial dates have to be set for Jesse Sangster and Nicole Cook. The two are both on the Dec. 11, 2020, pre-trial list at Battleford Court of Queen’s Bench.
Earlier this year both Mavis Takakenew and Brent Checkosis pleaded guilty to accessory to murder after the fact. Checkosis was sentenced to seven years in prison and Takakenew was given 18 months.
Samuel Takakenew is scheduled to appear in North Battleford Provincial Court Dec. 9, 2020, and Charles St. Savard is scheduled to appear Jan. 11, 2021.
The charges
Whitstone and Nikita Cook of Onion Lake Cree Nation, Sangster and Nicole Cook of Edmonton, as well as Orthner and Thomas of North Battleford, are charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, improper interference with a human body and theft of a motor vehicle.
St. Savard, of Edmonton, is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and improperly interfering with a human body.
Checkosis and Mavis Takakenew of North Battleford, and Samuel Takakenew, of Edmonton, are charged with accessory to murder.
Timeline
-April 27, 2019: Tiki Laverdiere, of Edmonton, was in North Battleford for the funeral of Tristen Cook-Buckle, 20, on Thunderchild First Nation. His body was found in a burned vehicle near Vegreville, Alta., on April 5, 2019. Edmonton Police are investigating Cook-Buckle’s murder. (Nicole Cook is Cook-Buckle’s mother. She told CBC that her son was a member of a street gang in Edmonton.)
-May 12, 2019: Laverdiere was reported missing to Battlefords RCMP.
-June 10, 2019: The RCMP said Laverdiere’s disappearance was the result of foul play.
-July 11, 2019: A police dog finds human remains in a rural area outside of North Battleford while RCMP were conducting a ground search.
-July 17, 2019: RCMP announced the remains were that of Laverdiere.
-With files from John Cairns
