A bizarre kidnapping incident that started at the Capitol Theatre and ended with a hostage being tied up and left in a hole outside the Battlefords has been dealt with in the courts.
The two adults accused in the case, Garth Iron and Stephanie Sample, appeared in provincial court Dec. 9 and received lengthy sentences.
Iron pled guilty to kidnapping, assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and uttering threats. Sample pled guilty to kidnapping.
Iron was sentenced to six years in custody, less remand time, while Sample was sentenced to four years less her remand.
There was an agreed statement of facts submitted, but the sentencing was not a joint submission. The Crown had sought a seven-year sentence for Iron and four and a half for Sample. The defence called for four to five years for Iron and a time-served sentence with three years probation for Sample.
Three youths who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act had also previously been sentenced. One 16-year-old youth entered guilty pleas to kidnapping, assault with a weapon, uttering threats and possession of a weapon for a purpose dangerous to the public peace and received 30 months secure custody on the kidnapping charge – 20 months secure custody followed by 10 months under supervision in the community. On the other charges he received 24 months secure custody, or 16 secure and eight under supervision in the community. This was in addition to his remand time of 105 days.
Two other 16-year-old youths were sentenced Nov. 6. One pled guilty to kidnapping, assault with a weapon, uttering threats and possession of a weapon for a purpose dangerous to the public peace and received 30 months secure — 20 months secure plus 10 months supervision. He was also sentenced for mischief that occurred while he was in custody.
The other youth pled guilty to kidnapping and possession of a weapon for a purpose dangerous to the public peace. Crown and defense made a joint submission for 18 months open custody — 12 months custody and six under supervision in the community — and 12 months probation to follow.
Both sentences were in addition to five months already in custody. The court followed the joint submission.
The sentences bring an end to one of the more shocking and troubling cases to hit the Battlefords and area in recent years.
The charges stem from an incident that transpired on June 4 of 2015.
The following facts were outlined in the agreed statement of facts filed with the provincial court in the case.
The situation came to light around 1:30 a.m. June 4 on 99th Street, when RCMP saw a man who appeared to be hurt. He was later taken to the RCMP detachment for a statement. Based on all the statements filed what happened was as follows:
The victim had been taken to the basement of the Capitol Theatre around 8:30 p.m. and an argument ensued over a drug debt. The victim was yelled at and asked where his money was. He was tied up and, according to the facts, Garth Iron made attempts to choke him with telephone wire. He was also blindfolded and Iron and two of the accused youths began hitting his legs with a hammer. An air powered pellet gun was also brought down and shot off, and it was pointed at the victim’s head while one of the youths accused asked for money.
According to the statement of facts, Iron and two others continued assaulting the victim for a couple more hours and he was confined to the basement until around 11:30 p.m. A call was then made to Stephanie Sample, manager of the theater. She arrived with her car, and it was after 11:30 p.m. that the victim was placed, blindfolded, into the trunk of Sample’s car. She drove and, with Iron and two accused youths in the vehicle as passengers, the victim was driven out to a rural area outside the city.
On the way, the car stopped at Tim Hortons drive through in Battleford where the victim heard his kidnappers order smoothies and a triple triple.
They finally made their way to a field on Twin Lakes road where the victim was taken out of the trunk of the car and placed in a hole. He was hit a few times and had also been hit in the knees with a shovel.
The victim was left in the field, where he got himself untied and thought he saw his attackers drive away in a red car. Afterwards, Stephanie Sample drove Iron and the two youth back to Capitol Theatre and dropped them off.
According to the statement of facts, following the incident the RCMP investigated further and the victim led police to a location on Twin Lakes road about three kilometres outside of town. There, police found a hole with telephone wire in it and a sock close by.
RCMP at the Capitol Theatre location found several partially melted candles, a hammer, pliers and large wrenches, along with broken glass from a bottle in the basement. A search warrant was also issued on Sample’s car, which contained a number of items, including a grey camouflage bandana and a pellet gun.
Surveillance video from the theatre was also obtained, showing Iron and two others in the office using telephone wire to tie one another up and trying to get out. Video also showed another accused loading a pellet gun, and later showed the return to the theatre of Iron and two youth at around 1 a.m.
The facts of this case had not been revealed to this point, due to publication bans issued during the show cause hearings of the five accused.
All five individuals accused in the case had been ordered remanded in custody after their show cause hearings. The case was notable in that none of the accused had criminal records. Also notable was the fact the accused were remanded on tertiary grounds — whether release would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
In ruling on show cause in Sample’s case, Judge Dan O’Hanlon refused release. His ruling July 13 stated, “I have to conclude that a reasonable member of the community, in other words, a reasonable, well-informed person, not a legal expert with an in-depth knowledge of our criminal justice system, would be satisfied that denial of release is necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice.”
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