Warning: This story contains graphic details
SADDLE LAKE - Jermaine Eugene Steinhauer, one of three suspects accused in the killing of Lindsay Jackson, was found not guilty of first-degree murder.
Based on the inconsistencies in the statements provided by Steinhauer's co-accused, Julian Catalin Whiskeyjack and Jena Lynn Hunter, Justice Larry Ackerl found the 25-year-old not guilty of first-degree murder.
“Upon review of the totality of the evidence... credibility concerns exist in the testimony from both witnesses,” Justice Ackerl told the court on June 29.
The verdict follows a five-day judge-alone trial that took place earlier this year.
Steinhauer was one of three suspects arrested and charged in relation to the murder of 25-year-old Jackson, whose body was found on the riverbank of the North Saskatchewan River on Oct. 3, 2018, days after she was reported missing.
RCMP arrested Steinhauer and Hunter in December 2018, later adding Whiskeyjack to the list of those charged in relation to Jackson's death.
Whiskeyjack and Hunter were convicted by jury of first-degree murder following a 10-day trial in March.
The pair provided witness statements during Steinhauer's trial, which took place in the St. Paul Court of Queen's Bench in the spring.
Justice Ackerl said during the verdict on June 29 there were conflicts between their description of events.
Both Whiskeyjack and Hunter testified that Steinhauer and Jackson had argued at a residence before the four of them left together in a vehicle.
They also agreed that Steinhauer had directed the driver to the bridge, but disagreed on who was sitting where in the vehicle and where on the bridge it stopped.
While one of them claimed Steinhauer yanked Jackson out of the vehicle, the other said she got out voluntarily.
According to Ackerl, Whiskeyjack told the court during the trial Jackson was assaulted by Hunter while Steinhauer watched. Hunter testified it was Steinhauer who assaulted the victim.
Both claim Steinhauer pointed a gun at Jackson's head, but it didn't fire, “and that he, with assistance, dragged her body to the bridge railing and participated in throwing her into the river,” detailed Justice Ackerl.
Each witness claims it was the other that aided Steinhauer in throwing Jackson off of the bridge.
“Significantly, their testimony about what happens on the bridge dramatically conflicts,” he noted, later adding he concludes both Whiskeyjack and Hunter are lying about what took place.
“It was dark when their observations were made, there was no bridge lighting and no vehicle lighting,” Justice Ackerl stated.
He also explained how both co-accused admitted to binge drinking and using cocaine in the weeks leading up to the offence, including the day itself.
Whiskeyjack said his memory was “extremely foggy,” said Justice Ackerl, after explaining Hunter claimed she wasn't able to see any detail on the bridge, just shapes and movement.
“The opportunity to observe... was hampered by darkness and distance."
Based on the inconsistencies in the witness statements, Justice Ackerl found Steinhauer not guilty in Jackson's death.
