Chilling letter sent to news agency blamed police and extortion target for death of Satre

The author indicated the target who can’t be identified because of a court-ordered publication ban made the mistake of calling police after receiving a letter demanding one million dollars.

“You would have to be an idiot to not understand what was going to happen,” the letter read.

It was also indicated in the letter that the writer had been watching police suggesting “We need to write a book about how each of the letters were read by officers in plain clothes.”

Earlier in the day, court heard from four officers with the Medicine Hat Police Service about an extensive police operation aimed at catching the person responsible for the letters.

Officers followed a paper trail of notes with directions believed to have been left by the alleged extortionist. An undercover officer posing as the intended target was to make the drop using a duffle bag.

Snipers were deployed along Kipling Street and College Drive to monitor the operation.

Staff Sgt. Both testified that the note specified for the bag to be left near two irrigation outlets.

Motion detectors and trail cams were installed inside the bag.

On October 18, Staff Sgt. Both told the court he got word from the Major Crimes Unit that motion was detected from inside the bag, and they needed assistance with identifying the person in the trail camera.

Staff Sgt. Both said he went to the scene but was told to stand down because officers had located the person caught on camera.

He then returned to the scene later in the day to check on the status of the bag.

“ I walked down to the location where the bag was deposited, there was no bag,” he said.

Staff Sgt. Both testified that he and another officer looked for the bag for approximately 20 minutes before finding it “fully submerged” in a hole covered in leaves, 20 meters east of the irrigation outlet.

The officers opened the bag. Staff Sgt. Both testified that the money was still in plastic garbage bags, and the bags didn’t appear to be torn open.

In the letter sent to the newspaper, the author makes it clear they knew about the undercover operation noting the location of snipers and mocking the MHPS’s efforts in the investigation.

“ So here they come near College Drive and they act like a couple of kids gawking around.. not professional” the letter read in part

A warning was also signaled in the letter that dozens of murders could occur in the next year or two. Or they could happen in the same week.

“{Victim} knows who one of the 44 victims is going to be” “As for the rest of the 43 we give our sympathies in advance to the families as well,” the letter read.

The author finished by stating, “See you whenever. You will know when we are back in town.

Robert Hoefman is accused of first-degree murder and extortion.

The Crown’s theory is that Jame Satre was a random victim killed to show the extortion target he meant business

Testimony continues Tuesday morning.

by Tiffany Goodwein

Chilling letter sent to news agency blamed police and extortion target for death of Satre

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