By Taylor MacPherson

Suspect ‘turned herself in’ after boyfriend’s slaying: RCMP officer

May 10, 2017 | 5:00 PM

Robyn Laura Ermine turned herself in as a suspect an hour after her boyfriend was found dead, but her cooperation didn’t last long, an officer told court today, May 10, at Ermine’s murder trial.

Cpl. Stephen Hurst, an 11-year member of the RCMP currently stationed in Ft. Qu’appelle, said officers responded to reports of a stabbing, but when he arrived at approximately 3:15 a.m. on Feb. 21, 2015, it immediately became clear the situation was dire.

“The side door was open,” he said. “I could see a set of feet.”

Upon entering the home, Hurst said he found Ermine’s step-sister Shelinda Vallier and two older individuals in the kitchen where the body of 27-year-old Evan Tylan Bear lay on the floor, attended to by EMTs. Hurst said there was blood spattered across the entire scene.

“Shelinda herself was covered in blood, and when I say covered I don’t mean lightly,” Hurst said.

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Because officers still had no information about the suspected perpetrator’s whereabouts, Hurst cleared the home along with Const. Evan MacDonald before speaking with Vallier to determine Bear’s identity. With his identity confirmed, the officers began their hunt for a suspect.

The search did not take long. While Hurst was attempting to track down information on the owner of the home, he said, he got a call from dispatch on his cell phone at 4:11 a.m.

“Robyn Ermine wanted to turn herself in,” Hurst said.

Hurst and Const. Jesse Bachmier drove to a nearby home on Muskoday where Ermine was waiting for them with family members, he said.

“I advised her she was under arrest for murder,” Hurst said. “By this point she’s very emotional.”

Hurst said Ermine was crying when they arrived, and appeared to alternate between anger, sadness and unresponsiveness as she was handcuffed and taken to Prince Albert where she was lodged in RCMP cells.

“She was thrashing around, yelling, screaming… swearing at me,” Hurst said. “She was thrashing in the back of the police car.”

Bachimier, who also testified today, said he observed an open sore on the left side of Ermine’s face which was still bleeding when she was arrested, as well as “marks on her face, her neck and her arm.”

Hurst said he observed no injuries on Ermine.

Ermine’s trial for second-degree murder began Monday at Prince Albert’s Court of Queen’s Bench. 

Tomorrow it is expected the jury will hear from the forensic pathologist who conducted Bear’s autopsy.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews

Editor’s Note: Commenting on this story is closed as the matter is before the courts.