Thomas Sutherland manslaughter charge stayed in Gallagher homicide

Article content

Just weeks after Thomas Richard Sutherland re-elected to a judge-alone trial, the Crown has stayed charges against the man scheduled for trial this year in the homicide of Saskatoon woman Megan Michelle Gallagher.

Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench confirmed on Thursday that the Crown stayed Sutherland’s manslaughter and unlawful confinement charges on Wednesday.

Article content

The court document, signed by Crown prosecutor Bill Burge, provides no reason for the stay.

Charges are stayed in cases where the Crown has determined there is no longer a reasonable likelihood of conviction. Technically, the charge is not dropped, and the case could be reopened if new information comes forward within a year.

“It was definitely unexpected. We were hoping to go forward with the trial,” Gallagher’s father, Brian, said on Thursday.

Sutherland’s trial was scheduled to begin April 28.

He was one of nine people charged in connection with Gallagher’s death on Sept. 20, 2020. Her remains were found two years later along the South Saskatchewan River near St. Louis.

“Our women don’t deserve to be in rivers and landfills. They are special human beings and deserve the highest respect,” Brian said.

Sutherland, 45, is the second person accused in the homicide case to have his charges stayed. In 2023, the Crown stayed unlawful confinement and aggravated assault charges against Robin Tyler John.

Roderick William Sutherland, 47, is the last remaining accused before the court, charged with first-degree murder. His Saskatoon jury trial is scheduled for Oct. 6.

Article content

Publication bans were ordered on two King’s Bench sentencing hearings for three people — Robert “Bobby” James Joseph Thomas, Cheyann Crystal Peeteetuce, and Summer-Sky Jodylynn Henry — to ensure that information about the case wouldn’t taint the jury trials for Thomas and Roderick Sutherland.

Thomas received a life sentence with no chance of parole for 18 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Peeteetuce and Henry each received seven-year sentences after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the middle of their first-degree murder trial.

Brian said he’s worried that Roderick Sutherland’s murder charge will be reduced to manslaughter, too.

“The reality is that there are multiple people that took on one woman, and I don’t think there’s a universe where that is acceptable.”

The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.

With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.

Share this article in your social network