Former Sask. Mountie who shot lover found guilty of manslaughter
CBC
Family and friends of a Saskatchewan man who was shot to death by his lover gasped and cried after a judge found the Mountie guilty of manslaughter.
Bernie Herman, 55, had pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Braden Herman. The two men are not related.
Court of King's Bench Justice Gary Meschishnick said in his decision Thursday that he didn't believe the officer was acting in self-defence or that he had no memory of shooting the gun.
But Meschishnick said the Crown had not proven the officer was not provoked.
"We feel that it's very unfair," said Rochelle Herman, who was friends with Braden Herman.
Family and friends wore buttons bearing the young man's face. June Hanson said Braden Herman didn't get a voice in the December trial and deserved justice.
Braden Herman's naked body was found in 2021 in a park on the outskirts of Prince Albert. Bernie Herman testified that he fired the gun that killed the younger man but lawyers disagreed on whether it was planned.
The officer's lawyers said the shooting was in self-defence. Prosecutors argued the Mountie deliberately lured his lover to the isolated area to kill him.
Family members have said Braden Herman was a gentle giant. His early years were unstable and difficult, but he was adopted to a close family member and mostly raised in the Clearwater River Dene Nation near La Loche, Sask.
His twin brother died by suicide in 2015 and that deeply affected him, family have said.
The trial in December heard that Braden Herman and the officer met on Facebook in about 2018. Soon after, the Mountie invited the younger man to move into the officer's family home.
The relationship became sexual and the Mountie began sleeping in the basement bedroom with Braden Herman.
Bernie Herman's daughter described the men's relationship as weird. She told court they'd hold hands and sit closely together on the couch.
The relationship had an impact on the Mountie's marriage. The officer's wife, Janice Herman, kicked the younger man out of the home in 2019, but the two men continued to have sex.
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