CHAT News File Photo

By Chris Brown

Documents, web searches probed

Links to suspect found during digital forensic search

Mar 17, 2021 | 5:04 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Prosecutors drew a direct line from extortion letters to the accused this afternoon at the murder and extortion trial of Robert Hoefman.

Medicine Hat Police Service’s top digital forensics investigator during the investigation in the fall of 2017 took the stand today.

Retired Sgt. Timothy Schottner was at Hoefman’s residence when he was arrested on Nov. 8 and directed officers on which electronic equipment to seize, including a laptop computer and five thumb drives.

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On those, Schottner testified he found or was able to recover documents through keyword and other special digital forensic searches.

The name of the extortion target, which is under a publication ban, appeared numerous times. Other words that appeared numerous times in the extortion letters and forensics searches included “tongue,” “wolf,” “brutal” and “cowardly.”

Searches or visits to web pages related to the extortion target and homicide were also found in the police forensics investigation, as were searches or visits to pages related to the weight of currency, human anatomy and trails in Medicine Hat.

Under cross-examination, defence counsel Ian McKay questioned the relationship between Schottner and a person of interest in the case, and why Schottner didn’t recuse himself from the investigation.

“You refused to back out of the investigation because you wanted to know what was going on in the investigation of your good friend,” said McKay.

“That’s not true,” replied Schottner.

That relationship was a line of questioning on Tuesday when Staff Sergeant Trevor Humphries, the head of the Major Crimes Unit, testified.

That person of interest was the former business partner of the extortion target.

Earlier in the trial, the jury heard their business relationship had soured, and the target initially believed his former partner was behind the letters demanding $1 million.

Both the extortion target and business partner cannot be named due to a court-ordered publication ban.

In morning testimony, Schottner recalled briefly speaking with Hoefman after he had been seen on cameras set up to monitor a bag drop.

Schottner described Hoefman as “shaking” and “very distraught” during the encounter.

Prosecutors believe James Satre was killed on Oct. 11, 2017 to further the extortion attempt.

The trial continues on Thursday.