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ATTACKING THE LAWN
Cruising an ideal environment for those who want to have fun and learn
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS SPORTS
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RED DEER
ADVOCATE WEEKEND EDITION BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2013
HAY’S DAZE — PAGE A7
THE MAKINGS OF A
KILLER
At age 35, Stephanie Lee Walroth’s life took a dramatic turn when she started using crack cocaine and working in the sex trade, setting her down a path that would end in homicide and prison. BY BRENDA KOSSOWAN ADVOCATE STAFF Red Deer homicide victim Shaughn Lumley is portrayed in court proceedings as a gentle man, dealing with his personal demons from a second-floor suite at the Potter’s Hands affordable housing complex in Riverside Meadows. At 58 years old, in the early hours of Dec. 21, 2011, he was seeking solace in alcohol and in the company of a friend, the crackaddicted prostitute whose hands would take his life later that morning. Lumley’s body was found in his apartment at 2:10 p.m. on Christmas Day by Red Deer City RCMP checking into concerns that he had not shown up for a family dinner. Stephanie Lee Walroth, 43 at the time of Lumley’s death, confessed to police a few days later, when she was arrested on separate charges. In her submissions to Walroth’s sentencing for manslaughter, held in Red Deer provincial court on May 9, Crown prosecutor Richelle Freiheit said Walroth had formed a bond with Lumley. He was providing her with money, crack cocaine and an occasional place to stay in exchange for housecleaning, cooking and sex. Lumley wasn’t using drugs himself but was buying crack for Walroth, said Freiheit. She then described a violent struggle that broke out when the two started to argue about money while they were seated in Lumley’s apartment, working through a 1,200-ml bottle of whisky. An agreed statement of facts, which Freiheit read for the court, says Lumley struck Walroth on the side of the head with the half-empty bottle. She responded by
PLEASE
‘We grew up bad and she just gave up.’ — Brawnlyn Johnson, Walroth’s sister smashing a sugar bowl into his head. But she didn’t quit there. Medical examiner Tera Jones found sugar crystals in Lumley’s hair, dozens of bruises and contusions on his head, face and body and multiple internal injuries from the blows he suffered in the fight, including internal bleeding and a broken hyoid bone in his throat. The elastic waistband ripped from Lumley’s shorts was still wrapped around his throat and right arm. Jones determined that he died of strangulation, with the waistband used as the ligature. Given the disparity in size between the two combatants, it had to have been a prolonged battle, with Lumley rendered helpless for Walroth to be able to inflict the severity of injuries he suffered, said Freiheit. Defence counsel Paul Morigeau, in his submissions to the court, said the blow from the whisky bottle had aggravated the fight, sending his client into an uncontrollable rage. He protested that she was acting in self defence and that her actions were provoked by the blow. “It’s a matter of self defence ... which at some point, became excessive,” said Morigeau.
He said that his client was immediately sorry and confessed her actions to police a few days later, even though he advised her to say nothing. “She immediately wanted to plead guilty and pay the consequences of her actions,” said Morigeau. Charged with second-degree murder, Walroth remained in custody while Morigeau negotiated on her behalf, resulting a guilty plea on March 18 of this year to the lesser charge of manslaughter. Details of the circumstances leading up to the fatal fight were made public for the first time during Walroth’s sentencing hearing, held in Red Deer provincial court before Judge Jim Mitchell. Her presence in Lumley’s life and her role in his death were described in court as a the newest link in chain of tragedies that began when she and her siblings were still small, enduring emotional and sexual abuse from their father and further abuses from a series of foster parents. In an world where you either sink or swim, Stephanie sank, said her sister, Brawnlyn Johnson, who pleaded for a shorter sentence than the eight to 10 years being sought by the Crown. “Our upbringing was brutal. I can’t even begin to explain to you how hard it was growing up,” said Johnson. She, Freiheit and Morigeau gave snapshots of a young woman who became pregnant at 15, gave that baby up for adoption and was still struggling with her loss when she became pregnant again at 19. Walroth’s second baby died at 16 months. She has had four more children since then, of whom two are now adults.
Please see WALROTH on Page A2
WEATHER
INDEX
ALBERTA
VICTORIA DAY
Sunny. High 21, low 8.
Five sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A3, A5 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C7,C8 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E1-E6 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D8 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . C4,C5 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B3-B8
BRAINS A TASTY ZOMBIE FILM IDEA
NO PAPER MONDAY
FORECAST ON A2
RECYCLE
Brains were on the menu in Ponoka on Friday, when 37 zombies showed up to terrorize hapless locals at a local motor inn. A3
The Advocate will not publish on Monday, the Victoria Day holiday, and all offices will be closed. Normal publishing and office hours resume on Tuesday.
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