Barry Kerton
Barrhead Leader
Norman "John" Jerrett, a Barrhead, Alta resident was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 16 years after shooting and killing his marijuana supplier, Valentine Degenhardt, of Salmon Arm and then disposing of his body in the woods in 2013.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Denny Thomas said that it was clear the jury did not believe Norman John Jerrett’s version of the events.
“John Jerrett concocted a gigantic lie to cover up this callous act,” he said.
Crown Prosecutor Greg Gudelot asked Thomas to give a period of parole ineligibility of between 20 and 22 years, saying that Jerrett has shown no regret for his actions.
“We’ve seen nothing from Mr. Jerrett to indicate any remorse,” he said. “In fact, we’ve seen the exact opposite of remorse.”
Jerrett declined the opportunity to speak to the court before being sentenced.
Defence lawyer Naeem Rauf had suggested the minimum 10 years.
On March 5, an Edmonton jury found Norman "John" Jerrett, 48, guilty of second degree murder, in the death of Valentine Degenhardt. The jury also found Jerrett guilty of interference with a body, break and enter and theft, possession of a prohibited firearm without a license and four counts of possession of controlled drugs for trafficking.
On July 19, 2013, Degenhardt was reported missing when he failed to contact his wife after visiting family and friends in Barrhead.
Two days earlier, on July 15, Degenhardt was seen departing a Barrhead gas station early in the evening.
Believing his disappearance to be suspicious, RCMP opened an investigation headed by the Edmonton Major Crimes unit and supported by several other RCMP detachments.
Hikers came across Degenhardt’s Jeep about 200 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, off Highway 32 between Whitecourt and Swan Hills in early November of 2013. Police then conducted a thorough ground search of the area, aided by the information from the hikers and interviews from other people of interest and found human remains, which the medical examiner identified as Degenhardt.
Although Degenhardt was a Salmon Arm, B.C. resident, he spent a lot of time travelling between his home and a rental property he had in Morinville and often stopped in Barrhead.
It was during one of these stops Jerrett shot and killed Degenhardt.
Gudelot, during the month long trial, told the jury how Jerrett shot Degenhardt at his Barrhead home with a 9-mm handgun which he purchased illegally from another drug dealer. The crown prosecutor said Jerrett then broke into Degenhardt’s Morinville rental home to steal thousands of dollars worth of drugs.
After stealing the drugs, Gudelot said Jerrett used Degenhardt’s computer to search several topics, including how long it took a body to decompose and how to disassemble a handgun.
He also said the jury would hear how Jerrett enlisted the help of family members to clean up the crime scene and hide the body and how he stole Degenhardt’s cell phone to create a false pattern of communication to give the impression the victim was still alive and had left Barrhead.
During the trial, Jerrett testified that he shot Degenhardt in self defense after being woken up by his dog and finding a masked man with a hammer in his home.
-reprinted with permission from the Barrhead Leader.