Mother disappointed man accused in Edmonton woman's death now facing manslaughter charge

The mother of a woman whose remains were discovered on the outskirts of Edmonton two years ago says she's disappointed that the man accused in her daughter's death is being tried for manslaughter.

Kenneth Courtorielle, 37, was charged with the second-degree murder of Billie Wynell Johnson in February 2021. He was also charged with offering an indignity to a dead body after her remains were discovered in April 2021.

But on Monday, Courtorielle pleaded guilty to the indignity charge, and the trial proceeded on a manslaughter charge. 

"What he pled to yesterday, it was heartbreaking. It was kind of a let down … because I wanted the second-degree murder charge to stick," Billie Johnson's mother Marless Johnson said Tuesday during a break in the trial. 

The 30-year-old Cree woman and mother of two disappeared on Christmas Eve 2020. Her family reported her missing, and Edmonton police charged Courtorielle with her homicide in February 2021. 

Her remains were discovered on the outskirts of Edmonton in April 2021. Court has not yet heard evidence about Billie Johnson's cause of death.

According to an agreed statement of facts in the case, Courtorielle and Billie Johnson were in a relationship during the fall of 2020, and sometimes lived together in a central Edmonton apartment. 

Court heard that on the morning of Dec. 24, 2020, they woke up together at the apartment and then went shopping.

They parted ways in the mid-afternoon, each going to visit family and friends. Billie Johnson returned to the apartment. At 9:30 p.m. a neighbour saw her come out and then go back inside the unit.

She invited her longtime friend Jennifer Cappo over to the apartment that night, and had been co-ordinating over Facebook. 

Billie Johnson's last message to Cappo was sent at 9:36 p.m. Cappo arrived at 10:37 p.m., but by then her friend was no longer answering messages and didn't respond to Cappo calling up from the street.

Meanwhile, Courtorielle had returned to the apartment at 9:15 p.m. Phone records show a number of calls and attempted calls between Courtorielle and his uncle followed. He then left his apartment at 1:14 a.m. on Dec. 25th, going to a convenience store and back and then driving to his uncle's house on Enoch First Nation.

On Dec. 27, 2020, Johnson's mother went to the apartment and demanded to know where her daughter was. Courtorielle was inside and could hear the distraught mother, court heard.

On Dec. 28, 2020, Courtorielle took his Dodge Ram to a car wash and spent $416 having it thoroughly cleaned inside and out, including a shampooing of the carpet in the cab.