No parole for at least 25 years for murderer of 13-year-old Edmonton girl
Fri Mar 23, 4:47 PM
By Bob Weber
EDMONTON (CP) - Shortly after being convicted for the bloody sex slaying of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte, Joseph Laboucan stood up and apologized to the victim's mother - but continued to deny his guilt in the death.
"I'm sorry I did not save your daughter," Laboucan said to Peacha Atkinson, who had just finished giving a tearful victim impact statement with her youngest daughter Annie by her side.
"I did not hurt her. I believe there was no justice done here."
Laboucan, 21, of Fort St. John, B.C., was sentenced to life in prison and will not be eligible for parole for at least 25 years.
Justice Brian Burrows acquitted Laboucan's co-accused, Michael Briscoe, 36, of Edmonton, who had told police he was simply swept along in the April 3, 2005, events that led to Nina being raped twice and bludgeoned to death on the muddy fourth-hole fairway of a golf course just outside Edmonton.
Cheers and applause broke out in the packed Court of Queen's Bench courtroom as Burrows announced his decision against Laboucan. But when he read his verdict for Briscoe, there was stunned silence punctuated only by Briscoe's grateful weeping.
Seven members of Nina's family gave emotional victim impact statements, all of them speaking through choked voices or tears.
Nina's brother Patrick described how the murder has destroyed his own faith and confidence.
"I hesitate now at every corner and crossroads," he said. "I don't want to associate with anyone for fear of loss.
"There is an unsatisfiable wrath from the hole in our hearts . . . no justice will ever wake me from this nightmare."
Annie, the baby of the family, held her mother's hand as she spoke.
"I feel bad, mad, hurt and sad," she said, adding that Nina would never again help her put on fingernail polish or protect her from people bothering her.
Atkinson wished that she could build a bridge to heaven with her tears and memories so she could bring Nina back. She addressed Laboucan directly.
"You took her precious soul from me, my shining star, my beautiful angel."
All remembered Nina as a bright, beautiful, helpful, curious girl, with ambitions to become a model, singer or actress.
Outside court, Nina's uncle Gord Atkinson scoffed at Laboucan's apology.
"He's trying to suck up to the family, I guess . . . he's going to bullshit right to his grave about this."
He described the family's reaction to Briscoe's acquittal as disappointment.
"Briscoe was just as involved as Laboucan and the other three people."
Laboucan's lawyer Laurie Wood said she would appeal the verdict.
Court heard during the trial that Nina and a friend were picked up from West Edmonton Mall and lured to the golf course by the promise of a party.
News of the crime horrified Edmonton. And the sometimes lurid trial continued to transfix the city as a parade of witnesses present that night tried to blame each other.
The trial also provided a glimpse of a dark side of youth culture - a world of aimless "mall rats," dabbling in the occult, looking for the next party and hovering between school, home and life on the streets.
Both defendants tried to portray themselves as pawns.
Briscoe told police he was mostly along to look after his girlfriend and just drove the others where they wanted to go. Laboucan testified that he also thought he was going to a party. Wood argued that her client, an out-of-towner who had previously rejected the mall-rat life, had been set up by the others.
Burrows was left to sift through a contradictory jumble of testimony and police statements from the defendants and four others - most of whom can't be named because of their ages at the time of the murder.
In his written decision, Burrows described Laboucan's testimony as "radically inconsistent with the evidence of other witnesses who have no, or at least less, reason to be untruthful."
On the other hand, he found Briscoe's statement to police "reasonably compelling." Burrows said the interviewing officer wasn't able to break Briscoe's version of events, which is also consistent with stories from other witnesses.
Outside court, Briscoe's mother Violet said she prayed so hard throughout the trial that she got bruises on her knees, but she never lost hope that her son would be acquitted.
She said she first found out about the murder when Briscoe called her to say: "I finally hit rock bottom. There's been something committed and they think I done it, and I had nothing to with it. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people."
Violet Briscoe, whose son has four children of his own, said she felt sorry for Nina's family, but hoped they believed justice had been done.
"I wish I could take some of the pain away, but I can't. But my son didn't do it. He just stood there like a dummy. Pardon my words, but that's what he did. He didn't run . . . He should have ran."
One youth pleaded guilty last December to first-degree murder before the trial of Briscoe and Laboucan began. _________________ kyranŠ
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