Steinke gets life in triple-murder

The brother of a slain Medicine Hat woman says for his sister's sake, he forgives triple-murderer Jeremy Allan Steinke for slaughtering his loved ones.
By The Calgary HeraldDecember 16, 2008
The brother of a slain Medicine Hat woman says for his sister's sake, he forgives triple-murderer Jeremy Allan Steinke for slaughtering his loved ones.

Moments before a judge sentenced Steinke to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, Peter Doolan turned to face Steinke directly while reading aloud his victim-impact statement.

"I will never understand why she was taken, I will never understand the workings of sick and twisted minds . . . but I do understand about forgiveness. (She) taught me that.

"So it is for (her) sake and through the deep love for my sister, who is watching over us right now, that I extend forgiveness," said Doolan, his voice breaking on occasion. He travelled from Ontario to read his emotional statement at Steinke's sentencing in Medicine Hat's Court of Queen's Bench on Monday.

Justice Adele Kent sentenced Steinke to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years on all three counts of first-degree murder for the April 2006 stabbing deaths of his 12-year-old girlfriend's parents and eight-year-old brother. The sentences will be served concurrently.

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For 2½years, Peter Doolan and other relatives have remained silent about the tragedy. Their statements Monday were raw, real and profoundly moving.

Robert Remington, Page A3
"I'm about to send you away to jail for a very long time, perhaps for the rest of your life, and it's because of the horrific, unspeakable violence you've committed against (the victims)," the judge said.

Kent also encouraged Steinke, 25, to take advantage of therapy while serving his sentence.

"Maybe sometime in the future you can begin to repay all of the damage you've caused."

When asked by the judge if he had anything to say before he was sentenced, Steinke kept his head bowed and shook his head, no.

"He told me before I came into court, and these are my words, 'If I could take it all back, I would,'"said defence lawyer Alain Hepner.

Through it all, Steinke's mother Jacqueline May wiped tears from her eyes as she sat in the front row. Among the 70 spectators were Medicine Hat police officers who investigated the case.

Steinke's relatives, including his sister, grandparents, aunt and family friends, sat and quietly wept.

Steinke was convicted by a jury Dec. 5 in Calgary. His trial was moved out of Medicine Hat because of the intense publicity the girl's trial received last year.
The girl was also convicted on all three counts of first-degree murder. She admitted to telling friends she hated her family and wanted them to die, but she denied having any part in their deaths.

Statements from six other grieving family members were read aloud by Crown prosecutor Ramona Robins.

They described their anguish over losing "three wonderful people" as "unbearable," "heartbreaking" and "horrifying."

"I relived the fight that (the parents) must have put up to protect their kids, and the terror of (the boy)when he realized his big sister would not help him," the stepmother of the dead man wrote.

"You're nothing but a punk with evil tendencies, a coward," the man's older sister directed at Steinke.

"You partially did this for love, and you both turned on each other. I hope this teaches other people who glorified you for this that it didn't work out and never does," she wrote.

"Your choices hurt us all, Jeremy. There were broken relation-ships because of this, lost jobs, heart attacks, drug abuse, and much, much more.Both families endured so much pain."

Another relative wrote, "I still see the family's pain and hear questions as to the reason why it had to happen. There is a big hole in our hearts. His father really misses the weekly telephone conversations he had with (his son)."
"You need to know that we are not the same people since the murders," a relative wrote. "I am terrified Steinke will be out on the streets ready to murder with or without the slightest provocation. What happens when he is up for parole? Will he be after us then?Who's next? I am afraid for any young girl who might fall under the charms of someone like Steinke."

"They did not deserve to be murdered," another sister wrote.

Outside court, the brother ad-dressed reporters with a prepared statement.

"Our family wishes to thank the community of Medicine Hat for their prayers, their support. Especially like to thank the prosecutors, the police services, and victim family services for their outstanding work and I hope the media will now leave us alone. We haven't said much in the past and we're not going to say much now. Thank you."

The slain family's relatives have seldom spoken in public of the horrific murders, but agreed to have their statements made public.

"I think it was really important that the family be able to say how they felt about what happened. For me, it was incredibly meaningful to be able to say those words to the court, and to Mr. Steinke himself," said Robins.
Having Steinke return for sentencing in the city where the murders took place should help people move on, Robins said.

"We have a very small community. A lot of people knew the family members or had some relation through school or work. I think it was important to see the closure of it, and our community needed to see it close," she said.

A sample of Steinke's DNA has been ordered to be sent to the national databank and the judge issued a lifetime ban from owning weapons.

The murder plan was hatched online. Through online messages under their user names "souleater" and "runawaydevil," the pair discussed killing the girl's parents, who opposed the relationship between their 12-year-old daughter and Steinke, who was 23. The pair met at a local mall and began a relationship. Steinke posted violent, macabre poems and song lyrics about his girlfriend's family whose "throats I want to slit."He said the words helped him vent his feelings.

A month before the killings, runawaydevil sent a message to souleater that said, "rawr, I hate them. So I have this plan, it begins with me killing them and ends with me living with you." Souleater responded,"well I love your plan but we need to get a little more creative with like de-tails and stuff."

A friend of Steinke's testified he was asked to help kill the girl's parents. Another said Steinke watched his favourite movie, Natural Born Killers, the night of the murders and said his girlfriend would be the one to kill her brother.
Steinke said the girl telephoned him in the middle of the night, asking him to help her sneak out so they could be together.Steinke arrived at the family's darkened house hours later, high on cocaine and drunk.He was carrying a knife in his hoodie pocket and dressed in black wearing a ski mask.

The girl's mother came down the stairs and screamed when she was face to face with a masked intruder. The girl's father came at him with a screwdriver. He managed to choke Steinke and jammed a finger in his eye.

Both parents bled to death in the basement.

Upstairs, Steinke says he watched as the girl slit her brother's throat. He said he never touched the boy.Court heard evidence that the father's blood was found on Steinke's clothes. The boy's blood was found on one of his shoelaces.

Hours after the killings, the couple were seen kissing and giggling at a house party.

Friends testified Steinke showed them his wounded eye, admitted killing his girlfriend's parents and said she killed her brother. One friend said Steinke confessed he "gutted them like a fish."

Two friends testified they wiped blood splotches off the seats of Steinke's truck for him and parked it out of sight.
The pair were arrested with friends early the next morning in Leader, Sask., after police sur-rounded them as they were trying to sleep in a pickup truck.

A taped conversation between Steinke and an undercover police officer posing as a fellow inmate in a prison van featured Steinke taking credit for stabbing the girl's parents and said his girlfriend killed her brother.

Steinke was heard saying he tried to talk his girlfriend out of it but she wouldn't have it, while he was a man of his word.

Steinke also revealed to the undercover officer that the father's dying words included the question, "Why?" Steinke replied, "Because your daughter wanted it that way."

On the stand, he denied exchanging any words with the father during their battle.

Jurors endured graphic photos and blood-splatter evidence.The mother suffered 12 stab wounds. The father was stabbed 24 times. The boy's throat was slashed open and he had four other stab wounds in his chest. Forensic evidence showed he was also choked. The suburban home's walls were dripping with blood. They also saw black-handled kitchen knives believed to be the murder weapons.

A knife found by the father's body in the bloodied basement was bent wildly out of shape--it was buckled in the middle and curved at its tip like a hook.