The trial of Norman John Jerrett, who is accused of the murder of a Salmon Arm man, has opened in Edmonton.
Jerrett, a 48-year-old Barrhead, Alta. resident, pleaded not guilty to 10 charges, the most serious being murder, in relation to the death of a Salmon Arm man, Valentine Degenhardt. The other charges include robbery with a firearm, interfering with a dead body, break and enter, possession of a loaded restricted firearm, unlawful use of a firearm and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
On July 19, 2013, Degenhardt was reported missing when he failed to contact his wife after visiting family and friends in Barrhead, Alta.
Two days earlier, 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 information from 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 resident, he spent a lot of time travelling between his home and a rental property he had in Morinville, Alta. and often stopped in Barrhead.
It was during one of these stops in Barr-head that Crown prosecutor Greg Gudelot alleges the murder took place.
The Crown said in an opening statement that Degenhardt was involved in the drug trade and travelled from his Salmon Arm home to supply local Alberta drug dealers, including Jerrett, with marijuana in 2013.
The Crown alleges that 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.
The prosecutor told the jury they will also hear that Jerrett took Degenhardt’s cell phone and set about creating a false pattern of communication to give the impression the victim was alive and well when he left Barr-head.
The trial is scheduled to last about four weeks.
- with files from the Edmonton Journal