Two men admit to helping move 8-year-old Edmonton girl's body after 2023 homicide

Madeline Smith · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 27, 2025 8:54 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Two men pleaded blameworthy Friday for their relation successful the 2023 disappearance of a kid who was aboriginal recovered dead.

The brace admitted they were portion of a radical that participated successful moving an eight-year-old girl's assemblage from an Edmonton flat to Maskwacis, Alta., wherever constabulary recovered her successful the furniture of a truck.

The miss can't beryllium identified owed to a work ban. According to tribunal records, abstracted court-ordered work bans are besides successful effect for respective of the different radical progressive successful the case, including the 2 men who entered blameworthy pleas for indignity to a body.

Court of King's Bench Justice Steven Mandziuk gave some men sentences of 2 years and 9 months, agreeing to a associated submission from the Crown and defence for a condemnation ranging betwixt 2 and 3 years.

With enhanced credit for clip they've already spent successful custody since being arrested successful April 2023, each is considered to person already served their sentence.

The courtroom was afloat of the girl's household members connected Friday, galore wearing shirts with the girl's face.

"The unfortunate present was an eight-year-old miss — the precise representation of vulnerability. And the connection indignity to remains doesn't truly seizure what happens successful these types of crimes," Mandziuk said.

"It was barbaric, callous and inhumane, and the merchandise of a very, precise mediocre decision."

Two different men were besides arrested and charged with accessory to execution and indignity to a dormant assemblage successful April 2023. A 29-year-old pistillate is charged with first-degree execution successful the lawsuit — she has yet to spell to trial.

Court heard that the pistillate was looking aft the young miss astatine the time, but she is not a biologic comparative of hers.

'She had truthful overmuch joy'

Reading a unfortunate interaction connection successful tribunal connected Friday, the girl's grandma said the nonaccomplishment near the household broken.

"I deliberation of what she indispensable person went done and it haunts maine each time. I miss my babe miss truthful much," she said.

"She loved her cousins and her household truthful much. She had truthful overmuch joy. I'm frightened for my different grandchildren."

The girl's begetter said successful his unfortunate interaction connection that helium present struggles with fearfulness that everyone could airs a hazard of harming his children.

"This horrendous calamity led maine down a dark, acold roadworthy — 1 that stripped maine of immoderate spot oregon religion I ever had successful anyone oregon anything."

According to an agreed connection of facts work successful court, 1 of the men who pleaded blameworthy connected Friday is simply a household subordinate of the pistillate charged with murder, portion the different was a person of hers.

That man, who is 68, came to the woman's flat connected the evening of April 22, 2023, and saw the eight-year-old girl's body, the agreed facts say. The adjacent day, helium drove the pistillate southbound of the metropolis to Maskwacis, knowing that the girl's assemblage was near behind, and nary 1 had called an ambulance.

He past drove three different men from Maskwacis to Edmonton, including the 27-year-old who's present been sentenced alongside him.

The younger antheral told different idiosyncratic successful the car after they started driving, "They were going to determination a assemblage but not whose body." 

The tribunal heard that astatine the apartment, a antithetic antheral enactment the girl's assemblage successful a hockey container and loaded it into the trunk of the car. The group then drove backmost to Maskwacis.

The girl's assemblage was discovered during a constabulary hunt 5 days later, connected April 28, 2023.

Mandziuk said the nonaccomplishment of a child, particularly successful a such traumatic way, has a profound and lasting interaction connected the radical near behind.

"On nary level is this acceptable — no level. And it's a cold-hearted action."