Medicine Hat teen killer sentence reviewed

Girl, then 12, killed parents and brother with boyfriend Jeremy Steinke
CBC News Posted: Oct 01, 2012 12:19 PM MT Last Updated: Oct 01, 2012 6:22 PM MT

Canada's youngest multiple killer appeared by closed circuit television in an Alberta courtroom Monday for an update on her progress. The teen killed her parents and eight-year-old brother in 2006 when she was 12 years old. The now 18-year-old known only as J.R. was convicted in 2007 of three counts of first-degree murder. J.R. is currently living alone while working and taking classes, Medicine Hat court heard Monday. She is responding positively to treatment, expresses remorse experts consider genuine, and is assessed at a low risk to reoffend, according to a report read out in court. "You are doing well. Keep up the good work," said Justice Scott Brooker. J.R.s sentence, known as an intensive rehabilitative custody and supervision (IRCS), had been reviewed by the Court of Queens Bench every six months. However Brooker decided Monday that she can now have her sentence reviewed once a year. "We are seeing she is in the community, she is starting to get her feet on the ground and build a life for herself," said defence lawyer Katherin Beyak outside court. J.R. started her 10-year-sentence at a psychiatric hospital but was released in the fall of 2011 to begin her integration into society. She moved to a group home and started studying at a post-secondary institution. J.R. has three and a half years left on her conditional sentence. J.R. and her then-boyfriend Jeremy Steinke, who was 23, killed the three victims at J.R.s family home in the southern Alberta town of Medicine Hat. Steinke was sentenced to life in prison for his part in the killings, which the pair carried out because the parents didn't approve of their relationship.