Water main break cancels Peeteetuce, Henry manslaughter sentencing

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A sentencing hearing for two women involved in the death of Saskatoon woman Megan Michelle Gallagher was cancelled Wednesday after a water main break closed Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench for the second time this week.

Justice Mona Dovell briefly opened court to address the issue in front of a full courtroom. A new sentencing date of Feb. 6 was selected.

Last week, Cheyann Crystal Peeteetuce, 31, and Summer-Sky Jodylynn Henry, 26, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Gallagher’s death on Sept. 20, 2022.

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The pleas — which were made after a series of closed-court hearings — were entered nearly two weeks into the women’s first-degree murder trial.

Gallagher’s father, Brian, told reporters that family members are left wondering how things went from first-degree murder to manslaughter.

Dovell ordered an interim publication ban on the agreed statement of facts presented in court on Jan 16. The Crown sought the ban to protect the jury pool for two co-accused men who have elected to be tried by judge and jury later this year.

“The circumstances of the offence are particularly shocking, would remain in the mind of prospective jurors long after their publication, and have the potential to create bias in prospective jurors,” the Crown’s application states.

Accused people who have chosen a jury trial can re-elect to a judge-alone trial.

The StarPhoenix and CBC News joined together to challenge the publication ban on “any evidence led, submissions made, exhibits filed or victim impact statements in the proceedings herein” until the conclusion of the co-accused men’s trials.

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Media lawyer Candice Grant appeared Wednesday on behalf of the news outlets. Publication ban arguments are scheduled for Jan. 29.

Justice Richard Danyliuk had also imposed a separate interim publication ban on any evidence called during the murder trial, which ended when the pleas were entered.

Peeteetuce and Henry were among nine people charged after Gallagher’s remains were found along the banks of the South Saskatchewan River near St. Louis on Sept. 29, 2022 — two years after her disappearance.

Robert “Bobby” Thomas was the first person to admit having a direct role in her death. He was sentenced last month to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 18 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

The details heard at his sentencing hearing, including his involvement in Gallagher’s death, were also banned from publication to protect the upcoming jury trials.

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