An Edmonton drug dealer who rammed a city police car during a traffic stop and then threatened and assaulted officers before being Tasered and pepper sprayed was put behind bars Wednesday.

Steven Blair Draxel, 23, was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to dangerous driving, possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of methamphetamine and gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) for the purpose of trafficking, and two bail order breaches.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice John Henderson also banned Draxel from driving for five years following his release.

According to an agreed statement of facts, members of the Edmonton Police Downtown Special Projects Team (DSPT) were doing surveillance on a stolen Dodge Ram pickup truck in the area of 115 Avenue and 82 Street on the evening of Nov. 13, 2014.

Court heard officers saw the pickup park in an alley and watched as a passenger, later identified as Draxel, got out and then got into a Ford F-350 pickup that was also believed to be stolen.

The DSPT team followed the Ford to a Tim Hortons at 75 Street and Roper Road and watched as Draxel went through the drive-thru and backed into a parking stall east of the restaurant. It was then decided to have a police K9 unit conduct a traffic stop.

The officer drove toward the Ford and activated his emergency lights when he was less than a metre away and trying to nose up to the pickup. At that point, Draxel put the vehicle into drive and accelerated toward the police SUV, striking its push-bar.

Court heard Draxel then began swearing at the officer while continuing to accelerate and then put the pickup into reverse and drove backwards into a tree and the parking lot curb.

As the officer drove forward, pinning the pickup between his SUV and the tree, Draxel continued to yell while shifting gears and revving the engine, causing the tires to smoke as they spun.

Draxel then made a gun motion with his thumb and index finger and pointed toward the officer, who responded by drawing his firearm and pointing it at Draxel and yelling at him to turn off the engine and exit the vehicle.

Draxel then tried to open the door to flee on foot, however two other police vehicles came from both sides and boxed him in. He then continued revving the engine and spinning the tires.

Court heard multiple officers then approached the pickup with guns drawn and broke both the driver and passenger windows. At that point, Draxel threw his hot chocolate at one of the officers.

Police then Tasered Draxel and deployed pepper spray into the cab of the pickup before pulling him out through the passenger window.

He was then arrested and taken to hospital. Police were then able to determine the pickup had been stolen and they seized a backpack containing methamphetamine, GHB, ketamine, a digital scale, two cellphones and some ziplock baggies.

It was also determined that Draxel was a suspended driver and bound by two bail orders.

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Alberta’s highest court has ruled that the Crown is not obliged to disclose historical maintenance records of breathalyzer devices to the defence in drunk driving cases.

However, a split ruling in the Court of Appeal of Alberta decision, which was issued Tuesday, but publicly released Wednesday, means the matter will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Alberta appeal, which combined two separate driving0-over-.08 cases in a test case to try to settle the law, dealt with how far back the Crown must go to disclose maintenance records of breathalyzer instruments and what the legal test is for determining relevancy.

Two of the three judges on the Court of Appeal of Alberta panel ruled the historical maintenance records are not fruits of the actual police investigation involved, but are instead subject to the third-party disclosure procedure, which means the defence must show why they are likely relevant before disclosure would be ordered.

The two judges also found that the uncontradicted expert evidence by the Crown showed that the historical records are irrelevant to the accused being able to make full answer and defence.

Court heard during the appeal that the Crown typically provides to the defence the standard breathalyzer disclosure package, which includes details of the tests of the accused’s breath samples, the device’s test record, a certificate of analysis for the device and certificates relating to its annual maintenance. These records are to show that the device was operating properly at the time it was used.

The first case involves Darren Vallentgoed. The Crown disclosed detailed maintenance records and annual inspections for the device going back two years, as well as a maintenance log that revealed the device had been sent out for repair the day after Vallentgoed was charged and twice in the four months before.

That led to the defence seeking detailed reports of the work done, however the Crown argued they were not relevant. The trial judge agreed and Vallentgoed was convicted.

However, he appealed and a Court of Queen’s Bench judge sided with the defence, ruling that the Crown had to prove that the records were clearly irrelevant and ordered a new trial.

However, the majority Court of Appeal decision overturned that decision and restored Vallentgoed’s conviction.

The second case involves Kevin Gubbins, a former Edmonton defence lawyer now working in Grande Prairie. The trial judge in his matter stayed the charge after the Crown refused to disclose the maintenance records being sought, which went all the way back to when the breathalyzer device was first put into use.

The Crown appealed the stay and the same Court of Queen’s Bench judge that heard the Vallentgoed case ruled at the same time that the trial judge had made no error in granting the stay.

However, the majority Court of Appeal decision also overturned that decision and lifted the stay and ordered Gubbins to be tried again.

In a dissenting opinion, the third judge on the Court of Appeal panel ruled Vallentgoed was entitled to the further maintenance records he was seeking and the trial judge erred in convicting him, and the Court of Queen’s Bench judge was right to set aside the conviction. As a result, she said she would dismiss the Crown appeal.

Regarding the Gubbins case, she agreed with the majority ruling that the stay should be lifted and he should be retried, but directed that he be entitled to use the complete records that were disclosed.

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A gang member serving life sentences for two murders told an Edmonton jury Thursday that both killings were at the direction of high-ranking White Boy Posse member Josh Petrin.

Petrin, 33, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder for the Sept. 25, 2012, gangland slaying of Bryan Gower, 35.

Kyle Halbauer, 26, testified he and fellow White Boy Posse affiliate Randy O’Hagan lured the small-time drug dealer to an area outside Lloydminster for a supposed drug transaction.

Halbauer told the jury O’Hagan hid in a ditch armed with an AR-10 assault rifle while he sat in the driver’s seat of a car armed with a .357 Magnum revolver. He said when Gower pulled up in a pickup truck and stepped out, they began firing.

Halbauer said he shot Gower in the head and fired the remaining five bullets at the pickup and its passenger, Mike Bexson.

Bexson testified Thursday he had been with Gower to try to buy some cocaine and “panicked” when the gunfire erupted and ran into a field with “ringing in his ears.” Bexson said he suffered several gunshot wounds. He collapsed and hid by rows of hay until he could go for help.

Halbauer told the jury he had been in Saskatoon setting up a dial-a-doper crack cocaine operation for Petrin when he was directed by him to return to Lloydminster for a “mission” that involved looking into reports that Gower had been causing problems for drug runners working for the gang.

After confirming the reports, Halbauer said Petrin told him to “strap up,” which he explained was gang lingo for getting weapons, and “go through with the mission,” which was to send a message that the White Boy Posse had to be “taken seriously.”

When asked by Crown prosecutor Jeff Rudiak why he had done the killing, Halbauer replied that gang affiliates felt that if they didn’t do what they were told, they could be badly injured or killed.

“If I didn’t do it, it could have been worse for me, I guess,” he said.

Halbauer testified that he and O’Hagan met Petrin the next day at West Edmonton Mall and discussed the killing.

“He seemed pretty pleased that it happened,” he said.

Halbauer also testified about a Sept. 12, 2012, murder in Saskatoon, which the judge described in an instruction to the jury as a “mistaken-identity killing,” and said he and O’Hagan had been told by Petrin that he wanted another White Boy Posse affiliate, who had left the gang with some money and a gun, to be “taken out.”

When asked by Rudiak why he had done that killing, Halbauer replied that he felt he was “in too deep” and if he had gone another way, “they might have come back against me.”

Halbauer also testified that he never got anything for either killing and doesn’t know why he was chosen to carry them out.

When asked why he was testifying against Petrin, Halbauer replied he is trying to “move forward in his life” and wants to “do the right thing. He said he feels “remorseful” about the killings. He also noted the family of the victims “don’t deserve any of this.”

Court heard Halbauer earlier pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the Saskatoon killing and second-degree murder for Gower’s killing. He was sentenced to two life terms and is not eligible to apply for parole until he serves 38 years.

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A gangster killer who claims he acted on the instructions of a high-ranking gang leader was confronted with his Facebook posts during cross-examination Friday and admitted lying in court.

Testifying for a second day at the first-degree murder jury trial of Josh Petrin for the Sept. 25, 2012, slaying of drug dealer Bryan Gower, Kyle Halbauer agreed with defence lawyer Markham Silver that he has personally killed two people and tried to kill a third.

Halbauer — who is serving two life sentences — also agreed he had posted “F–k it. Ima thug till I die” on his Facebook page, as well as “I’m a prisoner of my own hell. Stuck in my world of hate.”

As well, Halbauer, 26, agreed he has about 800 Facebook friends that include multiple drug dealers, people that he has tried to kill and family members of another person he had tried to kill.

“It’s not safe to be a friend of yours on Facebook, is it?” said Silver.

The defence lawyer grilled Halbauer for hours about statements he made to police in which he lied and about false testimony he has given, including to the Edmonton jury hearing the Petrin trial.

The convicted murderer agreed he told jurors Thursday that when he had met Petrin, 33, in Lloydminster several days before shooting Gower dead, the high-ranking White Boy Posse member had showed him a case in the back of a car containing an AR-10 assault rifle and there had been ammunition in the case.

However, he admitted Friday he had earlier told police in a statement given after he began co-operating with authorities that Petrin had not opened the case and, when asked about his testimony Thursday being false, Halbauer said: “Well, maybe a little bit.”

Silver then pointed out he had earlier testified in another court proceeding that there had not been ammunition in the case and Halbauer agreed that what he told jurors Thursday was not true.

“I may have made a mistake,” he said.

When confronted about his testimony Thursday that the slaying of Gower, 35, had been at the direction of Petrin, Halbauer agreed that the supposed instructions sent in encrypted BlackBerry messages did not say to kill Gower, but to “teach him a lesson,” and he conceded a lesson isn’t learned “if you are dead.”

Halbauer also conceded you cannot be sure who is actually sending messages over the Internet unless you see them being sent.

After being challenged on further lies, Halbauer said he is now not lying with the evidence he is giving against Petrin in the trial.

“I may have lied in the past, but I am here today telling the truth.”

Silver ended his cross-examination by citing another of Halbauer’s posts on his Facebook page.

“People keep two faces with the fake one showing.”

Halbauer has earlier pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for Gower’s killing and first-degree murder for a mistaken-identity killing in Saskatoon on Sept. 12, 2012. He was sentenced to two life terms and is not eligible to apply for parole until he serves 38 years.

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A “manipulative” and “high-risk” Edmonton sex offender who used social media to target high school girls has been handed a 12-year prison sentence.

However, David Spencer Adams, 22, was given credit for having already served half of the sentence as a result of abusive treatment he received at the hands of both guards and fellow inmates at the Edmonton Remand Centre.

Adams was sentenced Nov. 14, but the judge did not provide any reasons at that time. A written decision including those reasons was released Sunday night.

Adams pleaded guilty to multiple charges involving more than a dozen victims ranging in age from 13 to 15, for offences including Internet luring, sexual interference, criminal harassment, uttering threats and distribution of child pornography.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Terry Clackson ruled it was an aggravating factor that there were numerous victims and Adams’ criminal conduct continued over about two years, including while on bail.

“In all cases where he was successful in having sexual intercourse with a victim, it was as a result of first, befriending the victim on social media and then taking advantage of that victim’s youth, insecurities and anxieties,” said Clackson. “He manipulated the victims to his advantage.”

And while the judge found Adams’ age suggests there is hope he can be rehabilitated, he noted he is currently classified as posing a “very high risk” of re-offending sexually.

Adams was also placed on the national sex offenders registry for life.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Adams used social media and Internet chat sites to meet and then lure young women into having sex with him. He also used compromising photographs to continue a sexual relationship with one of the victims.

Clackson also noted that Adams’ Internet luring convictions demonstrate his “manipulative behaviour and the length (he) was prepared to go to convince those vulnerable young women to have sex with him.”

Clackson sentenced Adams to 12 years and three months, but then knocked off six years for the 20 months he spent in pre-trial custody and the breaches of his constitutional rights.

Clackson found Adams was treated badly by remand centre guards, including being beaten up by at least one officer and being referred to as a “skinner,” which is a derogatory prison term for a sex offender.

The judge said he got the sense during the lengthy proceeding that some corrections staff feel it is OK to target sex offenders for abuse.

“These notions are ridiculous and wrong and the leaders of our institutions need to do everything in their power to eradicate this reprehensible attitude and the behaviours it encourages,” he said.

Clackson also found that Adams was assaulted by other inmates and while he did not accept his allegations that these attacks were orchestrated by the guards, he did find the guards on duty at the time were not “particularly diligent” in ensuring they did not occur.

“In all those circumstances, it is clear that the treatment of the accused was both unusual and cruel,” said Clackson.

A drug dealer in the witness protection program told an Edmonton jury Monday an accused killer sent violent messages after $160,000 worth of crack cocaine went missing.

Testifying at the first-degree murder trial of alleged White Boy Posse leader Josh Petrin, Jordan St. Amant told jurors he had been sent from Lloydminster to Inuvik with the drugs, but lost them after hiding them in a forest just outside the northern town.

St. Amant testified he went back to find the cocaine after a heavy snowfall. He was unable to find it after searching for days. He said he told Petrin about it via an encrypted BlackBerry messaging program and then “hell started breaking loose” and he began to get “death threats.”

St. Amant told the jury he messaged Petrin, who used the online handle “usual suspect,” that he believed the man who drove him to Inuvik, Bob Roth Sr., had stolen the drugs and he wanted to kill him. He said he was told he was still on the hook for the loss.

Copies of the encrypted messages were given to the jury.

In one message, “usual suspect” says: “U think I give a f–k about a driver being dead? I want his whole family dead and I want my f–king unit before anything!!!”

In a second message, “usual suspect” says: “OK we’re going to torture this goof for days and get the f–king s–t out of him.”

Not long after, a “freaked out” and “scared” St. Amant said he went to police and ended up in the federal witness protection program.

Under cross-examination, St. Amant said that after being with police investigators, he assumed Roth Sr. was dead. He said he learned that the RCMP had seized the missing crack cocaine.

In an opening statement from the Crown, the jurors were told Petrin wanted Roth “bumped off” over the missing drugs and a gang affiliate named Nikolas Nowytzkyj had been sentenced to 20 years after pleading guilty to manslaughter in connection with his killing.

Also in cross-examination, St. Amant admitted he didn’t see Petrin send the “usual suspect” messages and can’t say for sure it was him.

Petrin is on trial for the Sept. 25, 2012, slaying of drug dealer Bryan Gower. The jury has heard Gower was shot dead after two armed gang affiliates ambushed him during a supposed drug deal outside Lloydminster.

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An ex-girlfriend of an accused gangster boss killer told an Edmonton jury Tuesday she saw her boyfriend give a suspected gun to one of his drug thugs a few days before the killing.

Testifying at the first-degree murder trial of Josh Petrin, Karissa Dow, 24, told jurors she dated Petrin from 2010 to November 2012 culminating in the birth of their daughter following his arrest.

Dow testified that Petrin, 33, revealed to her that he was a “patched” member and a “boss” with the “drug-dealing” White Boy Posse street gang and said he has a WBP tattoo on his arm.

Dow told the jury that she and Petrin — who is accused of directing the Sept. 25, 2012, slaying of Bryan Gower, 35 — had met with White Boy Posse affiliate Kyle Halbauer just outside of Lloydminster two or three days before the deadly shooting.

Dow testified Petrin walked into some bushes off of a gravel road near Sandy Beach and spent about 10 minutes there while she and Halbauer, 26, drove up and down the road in separate vehicles.

She told jurors that Petrin got into Halbauer’s car “with something black” after coming out of the bushes and said he was in the vehicle for 10 to 15 minutes before emerging without anything in his hands.

Dow testified she had been at the same spot before when Petrin moved a “duffel bag” he told her contained “guns” there from another location. She added she never actually saw any guns.

Crown prosecutor Jeff Rudiak later asked Dow about the “black box” she had seen Petrin with at the time, but she told him she was unable to describe it any further.

Under cross-examination, Dow told defence lawyer Markham Silver that she never saw Petrin hand anything to Halbauer and agreed she does not know what he might have given him. She also agreed that drugs were sometimes stashed in the same places where guns were.

Dow also said in cross-examination that she was pressured to speak with the RCMP and told jurors that one Mountie threatened to have her jailed and to have her newborn baby taken away.

She clarified to Rudiak that the officer told her after Petrin’s arrest that they could take away her child. She also said the officer told her friends she was going to deliver the baby while in jail. She added her daughter was never taken away and she was never charged.

Halbauer earlier told the jury that he and fellow gang affiliate Randy O’Hagan had ambushed Gower after luring him to a supposed drug deal and he had shot Gower in the head with a .357 Magnum. Court has heard both men are serving life sentences for the murder.

Halbauer also testified that O’Hagan had been armed with an AR-10 assault rifle, which he said had been in a case that Petrin had showed him in the back of his car during a meeting several days earlier.

As well, Halbauer told jurors that Petrin had directed in encrypted BlackBerry messages that Gower be killed for causing problems for drug runners with the gang, although he conceded that the supposed instructions simply said to “teach him a lesson.”

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Related

• Man in witness protection program tells jury in Edmonton murder trial he lived in fear
• 'Thug till I die' gangster admits lying in testimony
• Gang boss told him to kill drug dealer, murderer tells Edmonton jury

A former drug dealer for the White Boy Posse told an Edmonton jury Wednesday that her boss — accused killer Josh Petrin — behaved erratically and threatened to dole out violence.

Testifying at Petrin’s first-degree murder trial, Jazmyne Night told jurors it was “stressful” to work for the alleged high-ranking White Boy Posse (WBP) member, who she said hired her in 2011, as he would go from buying her gifts, including a car, to issuing threats.

Night said the threats included him “saying he would beat me up or cut off my head and leave it on my parents’ doorstep.” She also said Petrin, 33, once told her “he was going to shoot me.”

The former cocaine dealer, who testified she had four or five drug runners working under her, told the jury that an ex-boyfriend of hers was badly beaten at a party that Petrin and seven or eight of his buddies, who she thought were WBP members, were at.

Night told jurors she saw the man, Steven “Chuck” Hunter, lying in a pool of blood with a man standing over him holding a can of gasoline and said Petrin told her the victim owed money. She also testified she took him to hospital and he had bleeding on the brain and said Petrin also later threatened to kill Hunter.

On Tuesday, Petrin’s ex-girlfriend Karissa Dow told the jury that she was standing on a balcony at the party with Petrin and they watched as Hunter was beaten up and had a bottle “smashed” over his head before then being “kicked and stomped.”

Night testified she would communicate with Petrin via encrypted BlackBerry messages several times a day.

“He gave me a BlackBerry, showed me the contacts in it and told me how to use it,” she said, adding he used various contact names, including Al, Elmo and Big Guy.

Night also testified about Bryan Gower, the man Petrin is accused of instructing gang affiliates to kill, and said Petrin asked her the week before Gower, 35, was killed about where he lived, where he used to drive around and if he had been bothering any of her runners.

Petrin is accused of directing the Sept. 25, 2012, slaying of Gower.

The jury earlier heard that WBP affiliates Kyle Halbauer and Randy O’Hagan ambushed Gower after luring him to a supposed drug deal outside Lloydminster where Halbauer shot Gower in the head with a .357 Magnum. Both men are serving life sentences for the murder.

The jury has also heard from both Halbauer and Dow that Petrin met with Halbauer near Lloydminster a few days before the killing and Halbauer said Petrin supplied him with an AR-10 assault rifle.

Halbauer also testified that Petrin had directed in encrypted BlackBerry messages that Gower be killed for causing problems for drug runners with the gang, although he conceded that the supposed instructions simply said to “teach him a lesson.”

Night also told jurors she was paid by the RCMP to provide a police statement for a different trial in Saskatoon, but said she did not receive anything for her testimony at Petrin’s trial.

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Related

• Ex-girlfriend of accused gang boss killer testifies at Edmonton murder trial
• Man in witness protection program tells jury in Edmonton murder trial he lived in fear
• 'Thug till I die' gangster admits lying in testimony
• Gang boss told him to kill drug dealer, murderer tells Edmonton jury

An Edmonton jury in a first-degree murder trial for an alleged high-ranking gangster has been told about payments made in the case by the RCMP’s witness protection program.

The jurors were given an agreed statement of facts detailing the amounts paid out for some of the witnesses who have testified against White Boy Posse member Josh Petrin, 33.

The document reveals nearly $77,000 was spent by the federal program on behalf of Jordan St. Amant, a former drug dealer for the gang who is in the program and testified at Petrin’s trial Monday.

It says $18,369 was paid on an emergency basis for accommodation and meals while St. Amant was being assessed for entry into the program, $845 was paid on behalf of him, but not received directly by him, and $57,613 went to total maintenance funds expended by the RCMP, including costs to travel to and from court.

St. Amant also testified under cross-examination that he was never prosecuted for any crimes once he entered the program.

During his testimony, St. Amant spoke of going to police after getting death threat messages from Petrin after $160,000 worth of crack cocaine went missing during a selling trip to Inuvik.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Petrin’s ex-girlfriend Karissa Dow — who testified at the trial on Tuesday — also received money from the witness protection program, although she told the jury she never actually entered into the program.

The document says $5,028 was spent on an emergency basis for accommodation and meals for Dow while she was being assessed for the program and she got a one-time $30,000 payment, in two instalments, to help with security, protection and re-establishment.

Dow testified she never tried to get into the progam “because I have family,” but said she had conversations with the RCMP “about my safety.” She also said the witness protection program “moved me.”

Dow also testified that Petrin revealed to her that he was a “patched” member and a “boss” with the “drug-dealing” White Boy Posse street gang and said he has a WBP tattoo on his arm.

In cross-examination, Dow said she was pressured to speak with the RCMP and told jurors that one Mountie threatened to have her jailed and to have her newborn baby taken away.

She later clarified that the officer told her after Petrin‘s arrest that they could take away her child. She also said the officer told her friends she was going to deliver the baby while in jail. She added her daughter was never taken away and she was never charged.

Jazmyne Night, a former drug dealer for the White Boy Posse who testified Wednesday, told jurors she declined an invitation to be in the witness protection program, but said she was paid $2,500 to provide police with a statement in a related trial in Saskatoon. She added she did not receive anything to testify against Petrin.

Petrin is accused of directing the Sept. 25, 2012, slaying of Bryan Gower, 35. The jury has heard Gower was shot dead after two armed gang affiliates ambushed him during a supposed drug deal outside Lloydminster. Both men were given life sentences for the murder.

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An Edmonton woman accused of beating her husband to death with a broken curtain rod told police she hit the victim “very bad,” a jury heard Thursday on the first day of her murder trial.

Nyuk Len Hwang, 55, is charged with second-degree murder for the Aug. 25, 2013, killing of Teck Hwang, 56.

When Hwang was arraigned on the charge before the jury, she jumped up from the table she was sitting at beside her lawyer and said that while she was not guilty of second-degree murder, she was guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The Crown rejected the attempted guilty plea.

In an opening statement, Crown prosecutor Maya Inuzuka told the six men and six women on the jury they would hear from witnesses, including fire department personnel, police officers, the son of the accused and victim, and experts on DNA and the cause of death.

She said they will learn the Hwangs had been married more than 20 years and moved to Canada from Malaysia 23 years ago.

She also said the couple’s son, Reuben Hwang, was 16 at the time of the killing and he is expected to paint a picture during his testimony of a “difficult home life.”

Inuzuka told the jury they will hear that Teck Hwang had come home on Aug. 25, 2013, and a “protracted” argument was heard between him and his wife throughout the house.

The prosecutor said the couple’s son was in his bedroom with headphones on for most of it. He came out to check on his father at one point and found him bleeding in the bathroom, with cuts and bruises on his body.

She said that as the teen tried to clean up his father, his mother continued arguing with him. The son helped move his dad into a bedroom and did not notice any injuries on his mom, Inuzuka said

The teen next saw his father in a hallway, naked and unconscious.

Inuzuka said nobody else was in the home. Emergency personnel arrived following a 911 call by the accused.

Jurors heard Hwang told a 911 operator that she and her husband had a “big fight” and she was “really nervous.” She also said: “I hit him so bad and he cannot talk … and he … breathe … I need help.”

Inuzuka told the jury the victim was found by emergency personnel with cuts and bruises all over his body. He was bleeding from the back of his head and vomiting blood.

She said he went into cardiac arrest and died from his injuries in hospital early the following morning.

The jurors were told they will hear the accused was “emotional” when police were present and she said: “I tell you. I hit my husband very bad today.”

Inuzuka said police will say they found a broken shower curtain rod, a two-by-four and a broken herb crusher, and the accused admitted hitting the victim with the curtain rod.

The prosecutor also said that several of the items found, including the broken shower curtain rod, tested positive for blood.

The Court of Queen’s Bench trial is slated to resume Nov. 28.

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An Edmonton woman convicted of repeatedly telling police about “bogus sex crimes” sobbed loudly in court Friday as she was given a break on sentencing.

The Crown had sought a jail term of 20 to 24 months for Heather Ann Marchand, 35; however, provincial court Judge Steven Bilodeau accepted a pitch from defence lawyer George Lebessis for a conditional discharge with three years of probation.

Bilodeau — who called it “one of the most unique and bizarre cases” he has seen — accepted that “deception” was involved and a “significant” waste of police resources, but ruled rehabilitation was the “primary factor” to consider in sentencing her.

Bilodeau noted it was not a crime of violence and no one was falsely charged; he said Marchand was the one “most victimized by her own crime.”

The judge also found Marchand was not the same person now as the one who called police to report “bogus sex crimes” in 2014. She has been treated for depression, anxiety and schizophrenic-like qualities and her case generated attention in the media.

“Miss Marchand, you have been through a lot,” said Bilodeau. “This sentence takes that into account.”

Marchand began sobbing while apologizing profusely prior to being sentenced and did not stop until leaving court with her family.

Marchand was convicted July 7, following a trial, of four counts of public mischief, one count of attempting to commit public mischief and unauthorized possession of a prohibited weapon.

At the time, Bilodeau rejected a defence suggestion that Marchand did not intend to deceive police, as she was in an alcohol-and-drug-induced psychosis involving delusions and hallucinations and actually believed the crimes had occurred.

Instead, he ruled the physical evidence at the alleged crime scenes — including Marchand “making her own body part of the staging” and her “preposterous trap-the-rapist ruse” — was knowingly set up by her so as to align with her concocted tale.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Marchand reported five separate offences over a 3-1/2-month period in 2014 and none of the events occurred.

In the first one, she said a man tried to sexually assault her, but she fought him off. In the second, she claimed she was tied to the oven, sexually assaulted and cut with a knife. In the third one, she alleged the man left her a note with a heart sticker on it and in the fourth one, she said she tried to lure the man to her home and then shot him while he was attempting to sexually assault her.

Court heard investigating officers found various pieces of evidence, including a large wrench in the backyard, holes in the drywall, a bloody knife and various injuries to her body. Her mother also found her tied to the stove with her feet bound.

The fifth incident happened at Pigeon Lake and involved a story of the same man tying her to a truck and running off. Her grandmother found her with yarn wrapped around her neck.

Court heard the RCMP were skeptical about the alleged crime at Pigeon Lake and called Edmonton police. A public mischief investigation began, which resulted in her being charged.

Marchand tearfully testified at trial that, while she admits the various reports she made to police were untrue, she still believes the incidents actually happened and is haunted by the memories.

Court heard the investigation involved 119 police officers and some medical staff, with an estimated cost of more than $188,000.

The family of an Edmonton man with a rare genetic disorder who suffocated to death in a police van after being arrested in 2014 has filed a $332,000 wrongful death lawsuit.

In a statement of claim filed Nov. 10 in Court of Queen’s Bench, the parents and brother of Trevor Proudman allege the 32-year-old’s death was the result of negligence by police.

The statement of claim says Proudman had Prader-Willi Syndrome, which is both a physical and cognitive disorder, and he required the assistance of a full-time support worker. It also says he was five-foot-four, weighed 282 pounds and had an unusually small chest cavity due to his obesity and scoliosis.

Maureen Harland and Keith Proudman are the parents of the deceased and Richard Proudman is his brother.

Statements of defence have not yet been filed. Statements of claim and statements of defence contain unproven allegations.

In the statement of claim, the family alleges Proudman and his support worker went to a foot clinic on Nov. 12, 2014, and clinic employees called police after Proudman became upset.

The family alleges two unidentified police officers responded to the call and one of them handcuffed Proudman and took him from the clinic to a police van. He was then placed with his hands restrained behind his back while lying on his side.

The two officers then allegedly left Proudman unattended in the van for about 20 minutes.

According to the statement of claim, Harland and the supervisor of Proudman’s group home arrived at the foot clinic shortly after he was put in the van and she told police about her son’s conditions.

The family alleges the officers told them Proudman was in the van and, a short time later, they said they were not going to charge him with any offences and would be releasing him shortly.

The family alleges they were told to wait by their vehicles while the officers went to the van and entered it. About five minutes later, Harland saw the van begin to rock back and forth and she walked over and saw the officers attempting to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her son.

According to the statement of claim, Proudman was “unable to breathe for a significant period of time” as a result of the way he was handcuffed while being positioned on his side, combined with his syndrome and physical disabilities.

“Observing this incident was extremely traumatizing for Maureen Harland,” says the statement of claim.

The family alleges Proudman was taken by ambulance to hospital and he died the following morning from suffocation due to positional asphyxia.

According to the statement of claim, which names as defendants the two unidentified officers and Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht, it was negligent to leave Proudman alone in the van while lying on his side with his arms handcuffed behind his back.

The family alleges the negligence was aggravated by the fact he was left alone for a significant period and was prevented from breathing by being placed on his side and handcuffed from behind.

“The conduct offended the most basic standards of decency and warrants aggravated and punitive damages,” says the claim.

A Spruce Grove man who strangled his wife in 2014 pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on the first day of his trial Monday in Edmonton.

Christopher Nagel, 39, had been charged with first-degree murder for the May 3, 2014, killing of Rienna Nagel; however, the Crown accepted a guilty plea to the lesser and included offence.

Nagel will be handed an automatic life sentence and the only question will be how long he must serve before being eligible to apply for parole. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

Defence lawyer Peter Royal told Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Paul Belzil he will argue Nagel should be eligible to seek parole after serving 15 years, while the Crown would only say it will be asking for a longer period of parole ineligibility.

Outside court, the victim’s mother, Sheree Zielke, expressed relief that the lengthy wait for justice is coming to an end and said that will really help her daughter’s five children move on.

“We just want it to be resolved. We want a conclusion. So if that means accepting a plea to a lesser charge, OK, let’s do it,” said Zielke, noting the only difference is parole ineligibility.

“We’ve lived with this hanging over us for 2-1/2 years,” she said. “We’re glad that we know that by the end of this week we’re done. It’s resolved. It’s finished.”

While the RCMP has never publicly released many details about the killing, they did say after the victim’s body was discovered that they believed her death to be the result of domestic violence.

And while Nagel had not faced domestic violence-related charges prior to the killing, the RCMP said officers had attended the Nagel home earlier in a general assistance role.

After being arrested on May 3, 2014, Nagel was taken to University Hospital suffering what was believed to be self-inflicted injuries. He escaped police custody for approximately five hours three days later.

At the time, Alberta Justice said Nagel had asked to have his restraints removed to go to the bathroom at about 9 p.m. on May 6, 2014, and he escaped from one washroom door as two Edmonton Remand Centre correctional officers guarded the other.

Edmonton police were called to the hospital and staff and campus security joined in the search. Nagel was found hiding on another floor of the hospital in the early morning of May 7.

An investigation into the incident determined it could have been prevented had existing procedures and protocols been followed and the two correctional officers were disciplined.

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An Edmonton man, who angrily drove into a gas station convenience store and badly hurt several workers, used his vehicle like “a bomb,” said a judge during a sentencing hearing Monday.

After Crown prosecutor Mark Fernandes argued that Steven Cloutier, 39, had used his Ford F-150 pickup truck “as a gun” when he drove through the store’s front door and crashed into two employees, provincial court Judge Mike Allen gave his own take.

“He didn’t use it as a gun, he used it as a bomb,” said Allen.

The judge also later took defence lawyer Shawn Gerstel to task when he argued that his mentally ill client is remorseful and feels empathy towards the four workers who were injured.

“His main motive was revenge,” said Allen. “He placed these people in mortal danger because of his anger.”

Cloutier earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon and mischief over $5,000 in relation to the Nov. 18, 2015, incident at a PetroCanada at 9640 118 Ave.

Court heard Cloutier was “extremely angry” with staff after having issues getting gas from a pre-pay pump and believing he had been mistreated and his driver’s licence stolen.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Cloutier drove away from the gas station in his pickup, then returned and intentionally drove through the front door, crashing into two employees and trapping them under the vehicle. Two other workers narrowly avoided being struck, but were injured by the rubble.

Court heard Cloutier then got out and punched one of the injured employees in the face, asking, “How do you like that?” He walked away from the store, but was soon arrested.

A Good Samaritan saw the two pinned workers and got into the pickup, which was still in drive and running, and slowly reversed the vehicle about a metre.

Court heard the two trapped employees had multiple injuries, including broken legs, and needed surgery and extensive treatment. All four workers suffered psychological damage.

Cloutier told police “something just snapped in my mind” and said he was “messed up,” at his “breaking point” and “dangerous to society,” and felt he should either be in jail or in a mental hospital.

The Crown is seeking a prison term of five to seven years, less 18 months for time spent in pre-trial, and a 10-year driving ban.

The defence argued for a two-year jail sentence, to be followed by three years on probation, with a five-year driving ban.

Cloutier, who court heard had a “tragic,” abuse-filled childhood, apologized to the victims who were in court, saying “nobody deserves to be run over” and he is “deeply sorry” for what he did.

A sentencing decision is slated for Jan. 16.

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A St. Albert man has owned up to being extremely intoxicated when he killed one person and injured three others in a three-vehicle collision in north Edmonton and then fled from the scene.

Michael Beverly Gress, 37, pleaded guilty Tuesday in provincial court to manslaughter, three counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm and hit and run in relation to the high-speed March 12 crash near the intersection of 167 Avenue and 59A Street.

Gress wiped tears from his eyes as he entered his guilty pleas and the family of the deceased sobbed repeatedly during the proceeding.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Gress drank at a north-side pub after leaving work on March 11 from about 4:30 p.m. until just after midnight when the bar manager cut him off.

Gress then walked outside toward his vehicle, a 2012 Dodge Avenger; however, the manager spotted him and escorted him back to the pub doors and called him a taxi.

After the cab arrived and the manager saw the intoxicated Gress speaking with the driver, he returned to the bar to work, but Gress then sent the cab away and got into his car.

Two pub patrons attempted to stop Gress from driving away, but he ignored them and nearly struck one of them while leaving. They then called 911 and reported that Gress was extremely intoxicated.

Gress then drove to another pub and continued drinking. He was cut off about an hour later when he was observed to be stumbling and was then asked to leave due to his high intoxication. A witness saw him drive away and called 911 to report him.

Another witness who saw Gress speeding north on 50 Street toward 167 Avenue and suspected he was drunk also called 911.

A short time later, the witness came across the deadly 1:30 a.m. collision and, as she stopped to help the injured, she noted Gress’ car had been involved and had ended up about 50 metres away.

Police determined Gress had been going west on 167 Avenue when he rear-ended a Chevrolet Cavalier just past 59A Street, which pushed the Cavalier into oncoming traffic and resulted in it being hit on the passenger side by an eastbound Mitsubishi Lancer.

Meanwhile, Gress’ Avenger — which police later learned had been going 147 km/h in the 60-km/h zone one second before the collision — continued west in an “uncontrolled state” and went backward over the south curb of 167 Avenue, struck a tree and collided with a wooden fence.

As a result of the collision, Russell House, 29, was thrown from the passenger side of the Cavalier. He was pronounced dead at the scene due to the multiple blunt force injuries he suffered.

Evan Cardinal had to be extracted from the driver’s side of the Cavalier and was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, including upper body fractures and a collapsed lung.

Both occupants of the Lancer were also taken to hospital. Driver Kyle Yuhar suffered a fractured ankle and passenger Taylor Uganecz suffered a broken collarbone and a spine injury.

Gress was not injured and ran away on foot. He then took a taxi to his St. Albert home and was arrested later.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Gress was suspended from driving at the time of the collision. He was also not allowed to consume alcohol due to an undertaking for four unrelated charges. His criminal record reveals he has twice been convicted of impaired driving and his driver’s abstract shows several speeding convictions.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 2.

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A full-patch member and boss of the White Boy Posse street gang was convicted of manslaughter by an Edmonton jury Tuesday for his part in the 2012 fatal ambush of a Lloydminster man.

Josh Petrin, a 33-year-old gangster who is already serving a life sentence for a mistaken-identity killing in Saskatoon, appeared upset after the 5:30 p.m. verdict by the seven women and five men on the jury was delivered following one day of deliberation.

Petrin had been charged with first-degree murder for the Sept. 25, 2012, shooting of Bryan Gower, 35, and jurors heard testimony that he had directed two White Boy Posse (WBP) affiliates to carry out the slaying and had supplied one of the killers with a gun; however, the jury found him guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Gower’s family, who attended the entire five-day trial, said they were “just glad” it is over and they will provide victim impact statements for Petrin’s sentencing, which will be scheduled Jan. 20.

However, the victim’s father, Walter Newman, said he feels Petrin got away with just a “slap on the wrist.” Gower’s sister, Tracy, also added that, while her brother was a drug addict, he was much more than that to his family.

The jury heard WBP affiliates Kyle Halbauer and Randy O’Hagan ambushed Gower after luring him to a supposed drug deal outside Lloydminster where Halbauer shot Gower in the head with a .357 Magnum. Both men are serving life sentences for the murder.

The jury also heard from both Halbauer and Petrin’s ex-girlfriend, Karissa Dow, that Petrin met with Halbauer near Lloydminster a few days before the killing and Halbauer testified Petrin supplied him with an AR-10 assault rifle and said it would help in his “mission.”

Halbauer also testified Petrin had directed in encrypted BlackBerry messages that Gower be killed for causing problems for drug runners with the gang, although he conceded that the supposed instructions simply said to “teach him a lesson.”

Petrin was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years after being convicted of first-degree murder in early November for the mistaken identity killing of Lorry Anne Santos, a 33-year-old mother of four who was shot and killed after she opened her door to strangers in Saskatoon on Sept. 12, 2012. Police said the gunmen had gone to the wrong house.

Petrin, who was also convicted at the same time of conspiracy to commit murder, was found to have set up the shooting. Court heard he wanted his former right-hand man killed for leaving the gang with money and drugs; however, they went to the wrong address.

Petrin is scheduled to go to trial in May on a charge of second-degree murder for the Dec. 7, 2008, fatal shooting of Mitchell Chambers, 23, in southwest Edmonton.

In an opening statement at Petrin’s trial for Gower’s killing, Crown prosecutor Jeff Rudiak told the jury that the WBP was “very busy” during the summer of 2012 expanding their drug business.

Rudiak also told jurors Petrin had directed two gang affiliates to “blast” two drug dealers in Lloydminster he was upset with and said police had seized texts saying Petrin wanted a man named Bob Roth Sr. “bumped off” over $160,000 worth of drugs going missing.

Roth was killed and beheaded. His body was discovered in the community of Ranfurly on Oct. 20, 2012, and his head was found in an Edmonton alley four days later.

Petrin was not charged in Roth’s killing, but WBP affiliate Nikolas Nowytzkyj later pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the slaying and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Related

• More than $100,000 paid for witness protection in gang-boss murder trial, jury told
• Man in witness protection program tells jury in Edmonton murder trial he lived in fear

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An Edmonton drug dealer who was handed a 14-year prison term caught a break Wednesday when Alberta’s highest court knocked four years off of his sentence.

Michael James Brodt, 31, had been given the hefty punishment in May after pleading guilty to 15 charges, including multiple drug trafficking offences and possession of a restricted firearm, relating to three separate busts in 2014 and 2015.

However, a three-judge Court of Appeal of Alberta panel ruled the trial judge erred by giving consecutive sentences, rather than concurrent, for drug charges stemming from the same bust and by citing, as aggravating factors, features of two of the charges that were already factored in with mandatory sentencing starting points.

The panel also noted it was not clear whether the trial judge had fully taken into account some mitigating factors in the case, including Brodt’s guilty plea, his co-operation with police, his lack of a prior criminal record and that his crimes stemmed from a drug addiction he was battling.

“We have concluded that the global sentence imposed was unduly long or harsh,” Chief Justice Catherine Fraser said in a written decision Wednesday.

The panel ruled a global 10-year sentence, less credit for pre-trial custody, was appropriate.

Court heard Brodt was arrested by Spruce Grove/Stony Plain RCMP on Aug. 15, 2014, in the Grove Motor Inn parking lot and officers seized from his vehicle a restricted handgun and quantities of heroin, methamphetamine and gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB).

Brodt was released on bail; however, he was busted again three months later when police found him in possession of quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and GHB.

He again was released on bail and, in January 2015, police nabbed him once more with methamphetamine, cocaine and oxycodone.

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A stay of proceedings was entered Wednesday in an Edmonton court case where a woman was charged in connection with her three-year-old son’s fatal drowning west of the city.

Carmen Stewart, 45, was accused of failing to provide the necessaries of life stemming from the June 13, 2013, death of her son Traeh in Mink Lake.

However, the Crown directed that a stay of proceedings be entered on the third day of the Court of Queen’s Bench trial.

Justice Doreen Sulyma told court she was pleased to enter the stay as she had not heard enough evidence to support the charge.

On Monday, Stewart wiped away tears in court as a video was played showing footage of the Mink Lake RV Park and Campground, about 14 kilometres west of Stony Plain on Highway 770.

A videotaped police interview of Stewart, in which she tells a Mountie what had happened that day, was also played.

Court heard Stewart and her four children were regulars at the campground and had arrived on the morning of June 30, 2013, for a barbecue and planned to leave that night.

The children had spent the day swimming, at the playground and at a friend’s campsite, Stewart told the officer in the interview.

Stewart said she was feeding her eight-month-old baby girl when Traeh started to walk away from the campsite. She asked him where he was going and he told her the playground. She told him they would be leaving shortly, but he went anyway. She said she couldn’t see the playground, but it was close enough that she could have called his name and he would have heard her.

Stewart told the officer a family friend rushed up to the campsite with tears in his eyes about 10 minutes later and told her she had to come down to the lake as Traeh had been found in the water.

Emergency help was called and an ambulance arrived and the young boy was taken to Stollery Children’s Hospital and put on life support. He died the next evening.

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The following story gives a whole new meaning to the colloquial phrase “riding shotgun.”

An Edmonton man was handed an eight-month jail term Wednesday after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including a gun offence for accidentally shooting a buddy in the derriere with a shotgun while they were driving around the city.

Crown prosecutor Shivani Naidu-Barrett told court that Sean Robert Martin, 33, and his girlfriend had been in the rear seats of a GMC Yukon while his pal, Adam Matychuk, was driving, with his girlfriend in the front passenger seat on Sept. 10, 2015.

Naidu-Barrett said the Yukon was in the area of 109 Avenue and 95 Street when a single shot was discharged from a shotgun in the rear seat and “struck Mr. Matychuk in the buttocks.”

Court heard Matychuk and his girlfriend exited the vehicle while Martin and his girlfriend fled on foot.

At the time, police said Matychuk was taken to hospital suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

Court heard police identified all of the occupants in the Yukon; however, none of them were co-operative.

“Police believe (Martin) discharged that firearm and he acknowledges that,” said Naidu-Barrett.

Martin pleaded guilty to careless use of a firearm and possession of a firearm within a vehicle in connection to the shooting.

He also pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen vehicle and driving with a blood-alcohol level of over .08 relating to a July 13, 2009, incident where police saw him swerving all over the road, driving at erratic speeds and going through various traffic signals.

Court heard police pulled him over after he drove onto a sidewalk and he had a hard time getting out of the stolen vehicle. Breath samples revealed he was more than double the legal limit.

Martin also pleaded guilty to possessing body armour, breaching a recognizance and possessing a controlled substance in connection with a 2015 incident involving surveillance on another person that led to him being arrested. Police found he was wearing a bulletproof vest and in possession of four grams of heroin.

Defence lawyer Walter Raponi told court that Martin is a journeyman iron worker who suffers from substance abuse issues.

Provincial court Judge Michelle Doyle accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence for an eight-month jail term, which was deemed already served by time spent in pre-trial custody. Martin was also fined $2,500, banned from driving for a year and prohibited from possessing weapons for 10 years.

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Staring directly at the man who murdered his daughter, David Thiel spoke in court Thursday about looking at her face in the morgue and realizing that “evil” walks among us.

“It was proof that there really are people who do unspeakable cowardly things to other people,” said Thiel, reading out his emotional victim impact statement at Christopher Nagel’s second-degree murder sentencing in Edmonton’s Court of Queen’s Bench.

“They do exist. They’re monsters,” said Thiel, describing the May 3, 2014, strangulation of Rienna Nagel, a Spruce Grove mother of five, as an “act of cowardice and evil that is beneath contempt.”

Nagel had been charged with first-degree murder for “choking the life” out of his wife of 15 years and the mother of his five children; however, his guilty plea to second-degree murder on the first day of his scheduled trial Monday was accepted by the Crown.

Christopher Nagel

Nagel, a 39-year-old former paramedic, will receive an automatic life sentence. The judge accepted a joint submission that he not be eligible to apply for parole for 15 years from the time of his May 3, 2014, arrest.

In a statement read aloud, Nagel called himself a “broken, repentant and depraved murderer” and “the lowliest sinner” and apologized to his former wife’s family, saying he was “deeply sorry for taking her light and her life away from all of you.”

According to an agreed statement of facts, Nagel and the 36-year-old victim had been separated and would alternate living at the Spruce Grove family home to look after the children, who were between the ages of 10 and 18 at the time.

On the evening of May 2, 2014, Nagel was at the home with two of the children while the victim went out with her sister after taking a third child to a youth group meeting. After they departed, he took the two remaining children to his mother’s home.

He then returned to the home and went into the basement laundry room with items he had earlier purchased, including knives, bear spray, goggles, a mask, a black balaclava and a baseball bat.

Court heard he was dressed in jogging pants, a black T-shirt with a protective work vest over it, black socks on his feet, black work boots and black socks with the ends cut off over his arms.

While Nagel was hiding in the laundry room, the victim returned home with their then 14-year-old son and her sister and saw a note he had left about taking the other children to his mom’s house.

The sister left at some point later and the victim went into a basement bedroom while the teen watched TV until falling asleep.

Once he believed his son was sleeping, Nagel left the laundry room with the balaclava on, armed with a knife and went into the bedroom where his wife was sleeping and locked the door.

After standing over her and watching her sleep, he strangled her with both hands. She struggled and fell off the bed and onto the floor, but he continued strangling her until she was dead.

He then covered her body with a blanket, barricaded the room with two desks and sent two texts, one to his brother and one to a friend, asking them to take care of the children as he and his wife had passed on. He also told his brother he could “see no way out” without being with the “love of his life.”

He then stabbed himself once in the chest.

Court heard he later regained consciousness and called 911.

Meanwhile, the son awoke and heard moaning or creaking sounds and a voice reciting what he thought sounded like a Bible verse. He banged on the door and tried unsuccessfully to get in.

A short time later, the RCMP arrived and officers found Nagel and the victim after forcing the door open.

Nagel was taken to hospital and treated with sutures for the chest wound and tubes for a collapsed lung and fluid build-up.

Court heard an autopsy determined the cause of Rienna’s death was manual strangulation. Nagel later wrote a letter to police admitting responsibility and also wrote a 41-page confession.

In other victim impact statements read out in court, Rienna — who was a personal trainer and a teacher’s aide — was tearfully described as a “firecracker,” a “remarkable” person, and a woman with a great sense of humour who loved life and lived for her children.

Rienna Nagel, 36, was strangled by her estranged husband, Christopher Nagel.

Her daughter, Kylara, said she loved her mother “more than anything” and really misses her. “No matter what is decided, I’ll never get her back and that’s what hurts me the most.”

The son who was at the home at the time of the murder wrote he “felt hatred” towards his father and wants nothing to do with him.

“My mom was like my best friend,” he said. “I lost my entire family that day — my mother, father and four siblings.”

Both of Rienna’s parents told Nagel they do not hate him, but her mother, Sheree Zielke, who called the incident a “black horror,” said she cannot forgive him yet.

“You are a confessed murderer, Chris,” said Zielke. “But you are also a thief. You stole my daughter from me. And you stole any chance I had to reconcile with her.”

Court heard the younger children are being cared for by family friends.

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