Kenneth Courtorielle discovered responsible of killing lady whose stays had been found in Edmonton-area subject

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Throughout a break in an interview with police, Kenneth Courtorielle started to cry and — trying on the surveillance digital camera within the nook of the room — uttered a plaintive plea to his lacking girlfriend.

“I do know she’s nonetheless alive,” he stated. “The place are you babe? I do know you’re nonetheless on the market. I can really feel you.”

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A choose has discovered that not solely did Courtorielle know the place Billie Johnson was, he was the one who killed her.

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Court docket of King’s Bench Justice Stephen Hillier issued a call Monday discovering Courtorielle, 37, responsible of manslaughter within the demise of Johnson, an Indigenous lady whose partial skeletal stays had been present in a subject 40 km north of Edmonton in April 2021.

Johnson had been lacking since Christmas Eve 2020, when she was final seen at Courtorielle’s central Edmonton residence. Whereas the state of Johnson’s stays rendered an actual explanation for demise inconceivable, Hillier discovered there was overwhelming proof Courtorielle struck Johnson within the face, dumped her physique, then took deliberate steps to cover proof and mislead police.

Hillier rejected Courtorielle’s declare that Johnson died from a cocaine overdose, and that he panicked as a result of he feared he — an Indigenous man with a prison file — wouldn’t be believed.

“I’ve little doubt in that regard,” the choose stated. “I’m as an alternative satisfied Ms. Johnson died of one among extra blows to the face by the accused.”

Extra to come back. 

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