By Barb Pacholik, Leader-Post
January 23, 2009 10:01 AM
REGINA — The sound of weeping filled a Regina courtroom Thursday as the family of Amber Tara-Lynn Redman, who was missing for three years, heard the disturbing details of her death — and told her killer how she lived.
“I want to let you know that Amber was a very beautiful, caring, loving and strong woman,” Gwenda Yuzicappi, the mother of 19-year-old Redman, wrote in a victim-impact statement. Overcome by emotion, Yuzicappi had a relative read the statement aloud. “I want you to know that her father went to his grave not knowing where his baby girl was. I want you to know my love for my daughter will be everlasting.”
In a penned statement shared with the Leader-Post, Yuzicappi recalled her daughter’s artistry and beauty as a fancy dancer, with her shawl as her wings, her arms gliding like an eagle in flight, and her light footwork “as if she was dancing on clouds.”
“Amber was an angel sent by the Creator, and only they knew her purpose here on Earth,” she wrote.
It was in stark contrast to the grisly details of her death, revealed after Albert Patrick Bellegarde, originally charged with first-degree murder, pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of second-degree murder. Justice Frank Gerein imposed a mandatory life sentence, and set parole eligibility for 15 years, as recommended by the Crown and defence.
“Your criminal act was evil in its essence; terrible in its consequences,” Gerein said.
Throughout most of the proceedings, Bellegarde, 29, sat with his head bowed — even when Redman’s aunt demanded he look at her as she read her statement. Like several family members, Beverley Yuzicappi was wearing a red jacket, with red stars on a white stripe on the sleeve in honour of Redman’s Indian name “Red Star Woman.” The back of the jacket, prepared at the time of endless searches, bears Redman’s name and the words “missing” and “July 15, 2005.”
“Do you have any remorse? Why, why did you do that to my niece?” Yuzicappi asked after hearing how Bellegarde beat the young woman, threw her off a balcony, drove a butcher knife into her head, then kept silent while her family searched in vain.
The mystery of Redman’s disappearance was solved only because of an elaborate so-called “Mr. Big” RCMP sting operation, in which Bellegarde unwittingly led undercover investigators to her body. When one of the undercover officers asked Bellegarde what it was like to kill, his chilling reply was captured on tape: “To be honest with you, it was exhilarating.”
Defence lawyer Mervyn Shaw urged the judge to consider that Bellegarde uttered those words because he was trying to impress men who were boasting about their supposed crimes. Shaw said the tape also recorded Bellegarde saying killing is morally wrong.
Bellegarde, himself, told the court, “I’ve been sorry since this has happened, and I’ll be sorry for the rest of my life for my part that I played in this.”
He had other words for the media awaiting his departure from the courthouse: “F--- you, all you National Enquirer motherf---ers.”
Bellegarde was arrested on May 5 last year — the same day Redman’s remains were found in the bush on the Little Black Bear First Nation.
She had been missing since July 15, 2005 when she want to Trapper’s Bar in Fort Qu’Appelle, 50 kilometres away, with her boyfriend and cousin. Her boyfriend left following an argument. Her cousin never realized Redman was gone until he went out to his car and found her purse there. The only evidence of what happened to her after that comes from the words captured on video and audio by undercover Mounties posing as criminals, Crown prosecutor Alistair Johnston said.
According to Albert Bellegarde, he and his cousin Gilbert Bellegarde saw Redman in the bar’s parking lot, and she voluntarily got in their vehicle. A murder charge laid against Gilbert Bellegarde was stayed last month, effectively bringing an end to any proceedings against him. He has remained silent about what occurred.
Albert Bellegarde said they went to a house on the reserve, where they all were drinking. He said his cousin and Redman ended up in a bedroom. When he heard screams coming for that room, he went in and found his cousin striking Redman. Bellegarde told undercover officers he hit Redman because “I didn’t want no heat on me.” Shaw said Bellegarde has always been protective of his cousin and believed Redman’s jaw was broken.
After his cousin staggered from the room, Bellegarde knocked out Redman, threw her off a balcony, and dragged her into the bush. She was unconscious but alive when he returned to the house for a butcher knife. He went back in the bush and swung the knife into the top of her head “to finish her off.”
According to Bellegarde — who was sentenced in 2000 to four years in prison after he shot at a woman and brutally raped another — he had no sexual activity with Redman.
When investigators found her body, it was wrapped in a blanket and unburied. Her bones had been ravaged by predators, and some were scattered.
According to Shaw, Bellegarde has prayed for forgiveness since the killing. “He says, ‘I couldn’t have done this sober,’” the lawyer added. “I offer this by way of an explanation, not by way of excuse.”
Outside of court, Shaw told reporters, “Today is a very difficult day for Albert because today is the day he accepts fully and publicly responsibility.”
Johnston paid tribute to the “extraordinary dignity” shown by Redman’s family, and commended the Mounties for their efforts in “pulling out all the stops” to find Redman and her killer.
bpacholik@leaderpost.canwest.com
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