Hearings underway in 2013 Ethelbert killings
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/06/2015 (3768 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A court hearing is underway for a real-life murder mystery that stunned a quiet western Manitoba community.
Payton Saari, 22, appeared in Dauphin court this week for the start of a high-profile preliminary hearing. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the January 2013 killings of an elderly woman and her nephew in Ethelbert.
RCMP quickly identified Saari as a “person of interest” but didn’t arrest him until several months later. The charges indicate justice officials believe the slayings were a planned, premeditated act and carry a mandatory penalty of life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 25 years if convicted.
A court-ordered ban prevents specific details of the preliminary hearing from being published. A provincial court judge must determine if there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial.
Elsie Steppa, 81, was found inside her home, while Clarence Thornton, 50, was found on the property. Thornton was known to those in the community as “Harry Jones.”
RCMP said both victims died from blunt-force trauma. They described Saari as an “acquaintance” of the victims and say the killings happened as a result of an “altercation.”
No other details were provided, including a potential motive.
The double killing rocked residents in the Polish-Ukrainian town of 312 people, located 60 kilometres north of Dauphin.
Saari has no prior police involvement, according to court records. An online search shows he is a member of something called the “Intention Experiment Community,” a website that boasts of being a place where “people may express their views about the New Age, science and quantum physics, spirituality, religion, healing and philosophy.”
Both victims were well-known in Ethelbert, although not always in a popular way: Steppa as an eccentric who was nicknamed the “Cat Woman” by villagers for all the stray cats she harboured; Thornton, a.k.a. Jones, for his belief he was Jesus.
www.mikeoncrime.com
Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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