Today marks 11 years since the Richardson family murders on April 23, 2006. This community memorial is at Jacob’s Mother Theresa School’s playground. Jacob was eight when he was murdered at the family’s suburban home in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Now, he would have been in university. This playground signage is a touching tribute to the […]
Engaging. Insightful. Funny. Passionate. This is how a therapist and probation officer describe Runaway Devil today. Experts are painting a very different picture of J.R. at age 22 than the notorious angry 12-year-old Medicine Hat girl who enlisted her older boyfriend to help kill her family. J.R. is officially a free woman today. A decade […]
Runaway Devil has been one of the most challenging stories for me. I’ve lived with it – let it take up space in my head – for 10 years. I think it’s because we’re never really done figuring it out. To me, it’s always felt like a story without an ending. So many times, a […]
Stay tuned… going through our original resource library/research gathered when I was sent to the scene of the crime the day of the murders, to both trials for J.R. and Jeremy Steinke, to present day. Those black binders represent a scant one-third of our material. #hoardingissues Good stuff to come.
A judge has given JR one of her final steps toward freedom: no more curfew. At a scheduled hearing in Medicine Hat Court of Queen’s Bench this morning, JR was freed from having to be at home Monday to Thursday nights. The convicted killer is celebrating her 22nd birthday this fall. These steps toward complete […]
Today’s news about the launch of the Calgary Homicide Support Society comes nine years after my 2006 story about Calgarians who used to meet at the Rockyview General Hospital chapel to attend the city’s, and perhaps the country’s, only therapy group for people who have lost loved ones to murder. Great to see this concept […]
Today marks nine years since Medicine Hat’s Richardson family was murdered by JR and Jeremy Steinke. Jacob would be graduating from high school three weeks from now. There’s little doubt the family would be thriving. Thinking of them and all who live with the pain of their loss. Time is not a cure-all for grief. […]
There’s much conversation on our Facebook page about the latest developments on JR and her most recent court-ordered sentence review hearing. Coles Notes: JR is showing signs of success and obeying her curfew. By springtime, she’ll be living more independently, meaning no watchful landlord keeping tabs on her curfew, etc. This is one of the […]
Sherri Zickefoose: journalist 