Roderick Sutherland has been discovered responsible of manslaughter in reference to the 2020 homicide of Megan Gallagher.
A 12-person jury at Court docket of King’s Bench in Saskatoon returned its verdict Friday afternoon, its second day of deliberations. Jurors additionally discovered Sutherland responsible on expenses of illegal confinement and providing an indignity to human stays.
Megan’s household and pals sat within the entrance row and gasped, sobbed and hugged because the jurors delivered their verdict to Justice John Morrall.
Megan’s father Brian Gallagher stated outdoors courtroom that when the jury foreperson learn out the primary verdict of “guilty,” it felt like one thing was launched from his chest.
“The first thought I had after they started to say ‘guilty, guilty, guilty’ was the grandparents have heard us, the Creator has heard us, and they are happy and smiling and I think at least, at ease,” he stated.
“Five years and 27 days since she went missing.… It’s been a journey and I don’t know how to describe it,” he instructed reporters.
“The only closure that we could ever get is if Megan could walk through that door and give us a hug, share a meal, a Christmas. That’s never going to happen. That’s been taken from us,” Brian stated.
Brian Gallagher, centre, speaks outdoors courtroom after the jury delivered a responsible verdict within the trial of Roderick Sutherland in Saskatoon on Friday. (Travis Reddaway/CBC)
He stated that Megan was a joyful spirit, humorous and compassionate.
“She was generous to the point that she would give up anything just to help somebody,” he stated.
LISTEN| New CBC podcast sequence explores the life and homicide of Megan Gallagher :
The choice is yet another step on a authorized journey for the Gallagher household that started 5 years in the past when the 30-year-old disappeared underneath suspicious circumstances.
Police believed inside months of her September 2020 disappearance that she had been killed. It wasn’t till two years later that her stays have been discovered on the financial institution of the South Saskatchewan River, about 105 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, close to the village of St. Louis.
In the course of the trial, the jury heard graphic particulars about Gallagher’s dying — she was tied to a chair, assaulted and finally killed by a bunch of individuals in a Saskatoon storage on Sept. 20, 2020.
9 individuals have been finally implicated in her disappearance and dying.
Megan Gallagher is proven in a photograph from a household wedding ceremony. Roderick Sutherland was the final one who stood trial on expenses associated to her killing. (Submitted by Gallagher household)
Robert (Bobby) Thomas was the primary individual charged, on Sept. 20, 2022. He pleaded responsible in October 2024 to second-degree homicide and was sentenced to life in jail with no probability of parole for 18 years.
Cheyann Peeteetuce and Summer time-Sky Henry have been each charged with first-degree homicide, however pleaded responsible to manslaughter in January 2025 and have been sentenced to seven years every.
Ernest Vernon Whitehead, Jessica Badger (Sutherland) and John Wayne Sanderson pleaded responsible to providing an indignity to human stays.
Expenses in opposition to Robin John (illegal confinement and aggravated assault) and Thomas Sutherland (manslaughter) have been stayed earlier than coming to courtroom.
Roderick Sutherland’s trial started Oct. 6. Throughout closing arguments on Tuesday, the defence argued that Sutherland had discovered himself in a scenario that bought out of hand, and tried to cease the individuals within the storage after Gallagher was tied up.
The Crown argued that though Sutherland wasn’t the one that killed Gallagher, it was Sutherland’s storage the place she was confined, and Sutherland was concerned from begin to end.
Defence lawyer Blaine Beaven instructed reporters outdoors courtroom that he was disenchanted with the decision however stated that juries make choices based mostly on the proof they see. He stated it was too early to say whether or not they could be interesting.
“I would say that this is obviously a very difficult day for our client, but we appreciate it’s a very difficult day for Megan Gallagher’s family. But it’s perhaps another step on the way to them healing and moving forward from this,” Beaven stated.
WATCH | Roderick Sutherland discovered responsible of manslaughter:
Roderick Sutherland discovered responsible of manslaughter in 2020 dying of Megan Gallagher
A 12-person Saskatoon jury convicted Roderick Sutherland of manslaughter, illegal confinement and providing an indignity to human stays within the 2020 dying of Megan Gallagher. They reached their verdict on Friday, the second day of deliberations.
Sutherland taken into custody
“He was involved in the confinement of a young Indigenous woman who was tortured and suffocated to death,” Crown prosecutor Jennifer Schmidt stated.
“This is an offence that has shocked the community at the highest level.”
Beaven argued Sutherland ought to stay out of custody.
“Mr. Sutherland has been on bail release for two years. He has no intention of running away from these charges,” he stated.
Justice Morrall dominated that Sutherland be taken into custody.
His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 19. The defence indicated will probably be searching for a provincial jail sentence (the utmost provincial sentence is 2 years much less a day). The Crown stated will probably be searching for a sentence within the double digits.
