WESTLOCK – Citing a lack of evidence, the Crown has dropped the second-degree murder charge against the 21-year-old man police implicated in the June 2020 stabbing death of 41-year-old Westlock resident Barry “Rocky” Wheadon.
At the conclusion of a two-day preliminary hearing in Westlock Provincial Court Feb. 23-24, Crown prosecutor Jonathan Avery asked Judge Joanne Heudes to drop the charge against Eddy Michael Trindle, 21, after the second scheduled Crown witness of the day, his older brother Jonathan Trindle, refused to testify. Judge Heudes said it “was unfortunate he’s (Jonathan) not willing to cooperate this morning” before agreeing to discharge Eddy, who physically appeared in court in shackles in the prisoner’s box.
Jonathan, who’s a serving prisoner at Peace River Correctional Centre (PRCC) and was also shackled while on the witness stand, repeatedly offered “no comment” when asked to take an oath to provide testimony, said he didn’t know what the truth is and added, “I don’t want to say anything … I don’t want to be a witness.”
Earlier in the day, Lauren Ossimeemas, 36, the older sister of Eddy and Jonathan and Wheadon’s girlfriend, provided 20 minutes of testimony under questioning from Crown prosecutor Nicole Parker regarding the June 9, 2020, incident but made it clear she did not see the knife used to commit the murder or know who stabbed Wheadon and only remembered Jonathan and Eddy running out of the bedroom “and they looked scared.”
“I’m not going to ask you to commit Mr. (Jonathan) Trindle to prison for any period of time (for contempt of court). The reason for that your honour is that you’re aware, the Crown has an ongoing obligation to reassess its case at all stages,” said Avery.
“Without getting into the details of any other evidence the Crown could potentially call, or any other avenues that could be pursued, the Crown is of the view that it is in the interest of justice at this stage to not continue the proceedings given the evidence that we have heard this morning. Accordingly, I am inviting you (Judge Heudes) to discharge Mr. (Eddy) Trindle of the charges that appear before you this day.”
Day 1 of the preliminary hearing, Feb. 23, lasted only a handful of minutes after Jonathan had not been transported from the PRCC to Westlock to testify in person — Judge Heudes issued an order to have him there Feb. 24.
Meanwhile, the Crown’s primary witness, Ossimeemas, had been previously served a subpoena and had been in contact with members of the investigative team and “indicated a reluctance to attend” — ultimately, Judge Heudes signed off on a witness warrant to have her there. Avery said they had planned on calling a number of RCMP officers to testify but following discussions with defence lawyer Gordon Collins “he advised the officers were no longer needed.”
Case background
Following a lengthy, 24-month investigation by the Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit, Trindle was charged with second-degree murder June 7, 2022, and arrested while a serving inmate at the Edmonton Remand Centre.
According to past reporting, at 10:30 a.m. June 9, 2020, Westlock RCMP received a call that a body had been found in the front lobby of one of the Westlock Estates buildings at 10540-103rd Street. The RCMP Major Crimes Unit was called in to assist and interviewed area residents, while a canine team searched the neighbourhood.
An autopsy was conducted June 11, 2020, by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Edmonton and RCMP confirmed the death was a homicide. As part of the June 7, 2022, release announcing the charge against Trindle, RCMP finally revealed the name of the victim.
