On April 23, 2006, the bodies of Jean-Marc “Marc” Richardson, 42; his wife, Debra Richardson, 48; and their 8-year-old son, Tyler Jacob Richardson, were found in the family's home in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Marc and Debra were discovered in the basement and Jacob upstairs; the bodies were found by a young friend of Jacob's who had arrived for a playdate and told his mother, who called police. Marc had 24 stab wounds, Debra had 12, and Jacob had been stabbed and had his throat slit. The couple's 12-year-old daughter, Jasmine Richardson, was not at the home, and investigators initially feared she might also have been killed.
Jasmine was arrested the next day, April 24, 2006, in Leader, Saskatchewan, about 130 kilometres away, with her 23-year-old boyfriend, Jeremy Allan Steinke, after a drawing depicting her family's murder was found in her school locker. Both were charged with the three killings. The two had met in January 2006 at the Medicine Hat Mall through a mutual friend and continued seeing each other despite her parents' objections to the age difference. On May 3, 2006, Steinke's friend Kacy Lancaster, 19, was charged as an accessory for driving the couple away from the area afterward and disposing of evidence.
According to the case record, Steinke entered the family's home through a basement window; Debra Richardson was killed after she went to investigate the noise, and Marc Richardson was killed after he confronted Steinke to defend her. Marc's last words reportedly asked why Steinke was attacking them; Steinke replied that it was what his daughter had wanted. Jacob was stabbed and had his throat slit upstairs; Richardson and Steinke each said the other inflicted his wounds. Afterward, Steinke drove away, and Richardson took cash and her mother's credit card before rejoining him. The two attended a house party later that morning, where witnesses said they showed no sign of what had happened and Steinke acknowledged involvement in the killings; they then fled with Lancaster and two others toward Saskatchewan, where they were arrested.
Friends of Steinke's said he described himself as a 300-year-old werewolf and expressed a fascination with blood. Both he and Richardson had profiles on the goth-scene website VampireFreaks, and accounts differed on how the two had met — online, at a punk rock show, or through a mutual friend — until a 2009 book on the case reported it was the latter. Steinke and friends reportedly watched the film Natural Born Killers hours before the killings, and he later told an undercover officer he considered it “the best love story of all time.”
Richardson was convicted on July 9, 2007, at age 13, of three counts of first-degree murder and, under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act, was sentenced on November 8, 2007, to 10 years — the maximum available for her age — including credit for 18 months already spent in custody, followed by four years in a psychiatric institution and four and a half years of conditional supervision; she is believed to be the youngest person convicted of multiple first-degree murder counts in Canada. Her sentence concluded on May 6, 2016, and her record was formally expunged in 2020. Steinke was convicted by a jury in November 2008 on three counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced on December 15, 2008, to three concurrent life terms, parole eligible after 25 years; while imprisoned, he legally changed his name to Jackson May. The accessory charge against Lancaster was dropped; she pleaded guilty to obstruction in Medicine Hat provincial court and received one year of house arrest.
Debra Richardson, Tyler Jacob Richardson, Jean-Marc "Marc" Richardson
Date
2006
Location
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Case status
solved
Case timeline
2005
The Richardson family moved to Medicine Hat, Alberta, after Jean-Marc Richardson received a job promotion.
2006-01
Jasmine Richardson was introduced to 23-year-old Jeremy Steinke at the Medicine Hat Mall.
2006-04-23
Jean-Marc "Marc" Richardson, 42; Debra Richardson, 48; and their son Tyler Jacob Richardson, 8, were found dead in the family's Medicine Hat home.
2006-04-24
Jasmine Richardson and Jeremy Steinke were arrested in Leader, Saskatchewan, and both were charged with the three murders.
2006-05-03
Kacy Lancaster was charged as an accessory for driving Richardson and Steinke away from the area and disposing of evidence.
2007-07-09
Jasmine Richardson, by then 13, was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder.
2007-11-08
Richardson was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, the maximum allowed under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act for her age at the time of the offence.
2008-11
Jeremy Steinke was tried and found guilty by a jury of three counts of first-degree murder.
2008-12-15
Steinke was sentenced to three concurrent life terms, with parole eligibility after 25 years.
2016-05-06
Richardson's sentence was completed following a final review, ending her court-ordered conditions.
2020
Richardson's criminal record was formally expunged, a year earlier than scheduled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Best coverage
Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
Coffeehouse Crime / 24 min
The 12-Year-Old Who Became a Triple Murderer... | The Richardson Family
People
Jasmine Richardson
CONVICTED
Convicted July 9, 2007 (age 13) of three counts of first-degree murder for the killings of her parents and brother; sentenced November 8, 2007, to 10 years under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act, the maximum for her age at the time of the offence. Sentence completed May 6, 2016; record expunged in 2020.
Kacy Lancaster
CONVICTED
Charged May 3, 2006, as an accessory to murder for driving the couple away and disposing of evidence; that charge was dropped, and she pleaded guilty to obstruction in Medicine Hat provincial court, receiving one year of house arrest.
Debra Richardson
VICTIM
Victim; found stabbed to death (12 wounds) in the basement of the family home, age 48.
Tyler Jacob Richardson
VICTIM
Victim; known to friends as Jacob. Found stabbed with his throat slit upstairs in the family home, age 8.
Jeremy Allan Steinke
CONVICTED
Convicted by a jury in November 2008 of three counts of first-degree murder; sentenced December 15, 2008, to three concurrent life terms, parole eligible after 25 years. Later legally changed his name to Jackson May.
Jean-Marc "Marc" Richardson
VICTIM
Victim; found stabbed to death (24 wounds) in the basement of the family home, age 42.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Three members of the Richardson family were killed in their Medicine Hat, Alberta, home in April 2006, and their 12-year-old daughter, Jasmine Richardson, and her 23-year-old boyfriend, Jeremy Steinke, were both convicted of first-degree murder for the killings.
Where did the murders happen?
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.
Who was convicted?
Jasmine Richardson (Convicted July 9, 2007 (age 13) of three counts of first-degree murder for the killings of her parents and brother; sentenced November 8, 2007, to 10 years under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act, the maximum for her age at the time of the offence. Sentence completed May 6, 2016; record expunged in 2020.), Kacy Lancaster (Charged May 3, 2006, as an accessory to murder for driving the couple away and disposing of evidence; that charge was dropped, and she pleaded guilty to obstruction in Medicine Hat provincial court, receiving one year of house arrest.), and Jeremy Allan Steinke (Convicted by a jury in November 2008 of three counts of first-degree murder; sentenced December 15, 2008, to three concurrent life terms, parole eligible after 25 years. Later legally changed his name to Jackson May.).
