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Vol. 16, No. 9, Wednesday, January 27, 2021 www.LamontLeader.com
Ray Nickerson pleads not guilty to second degree murders of Sutton and Williams in Chipman BY JOHN MATHER A Chipman man has pleaded not guilty to killing two men in the village in 2017. Ray Nickerson, 40, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Terry Sutton, 39, and Jason Williams, 40. In the trial, which began Jan. 11 in Edmonton Court of Queens Bench, Crown prosecutor Christopher Williams said the shooting occurred in the small community northeast of Edmonton after a dispute over fireworks. Williams said on April 2, 2017, friends and family of the victims were celebrating Sutton’s wife’s birthday. Those in attendance were drinking, and around 11 p.m. decided to light some fireworks. Williams said an argument broke out between the Nickerson and Sutton neighbouring households over the fireworks There was an altercation and then gunshots were heard and Sutton and Williams were dead, one at the bottom of the Nickersons’ porch stairs, the other in the doorway. Witness, Fort Saskatchewan RCMP Corporal Jennifer Brown testified she arrested Nickerson about 50 metres from the home. She told court she found three shotgun shells in his pocket and described Nickerson as cooperative, and “stressed out, but very coherent.” During two days of testifying in his own defence later in the week, Nickerson admitted he shot the two men. In an article posted on the internet, Nickerson is quoted as telling the jury, “No one who was there that night will ever be the same. I feel a lot of remorse. That’s the last thing I wanted to happen. “No one wants to go to bed at night and wake up to killing two people.” He told the court during his testimo-
In original report, residents said Nickerson home was a powder keg of incidents and complaints
Photo which appeared on the GoFundMe page in April 2017 of the victims of the killings, best friends Terry Sutton (left) and Jason Williams. Shooter Ray Nickerson pled not guilty to second degree murder. His lawyer claims the victims set off fireworks late at night on April 2, 2017 which started an altercation resulting in Nickerson admitting in court that he shot the two men. ny he was awakened by fireworks being set off and yelled at his neighbours to stop because he had to be up early for work the next morning. Nickerson’s wife, Tina, testified Jan. 21, that she had feared for her life the night of the incident. She told the court, her husband was trying to protect his family and that they now had nothing left. The trial is being held before a jury of 13. Normally a jury consists of 12 people, but a 13th has been brought in during the pandemic, in case anyone cannot attend for health reasons. The trial is continuing. Background The Lamont Leader reported in the April 4, 2017 issue, that the night of the killings neighbour Rose Frobel was quoted as saying she heard the shots and the RCMP later asked if she was
okay and to lock her doors. Frobel said at the time that she had a difficult relationship with the Nickerson family and received verbal threats. She documented many incidents and took the complaints to the RCMP at the time. She said the shooting was terrifying and hearbreaking for the victims and their families and believes there was a failure of the justice system which could have prevented the killings. Chipman residents Angie Thurston and husband Tim Murphy told the Edmonton Journal at the time that they thought it was a farmer shooting a coyote. But after another round of gunfire, Murphy was quoted as saying: “... that’s not a farmer, that’s not a coyote.” Murphy went out to the backyard to investigate when he heard someone screaming, so called 911. The dispatch-
er told him to get his family into the basement immediately. After the shootings and Nickerson was arrested, the community kicked into gear. The Village Office lowered their flags to half mast. Chipman resident Lori Smith, an employee of Chipman Market organized a donation bucket and money poured in. As well, Gloria Brown started a GoFundMe page on the internet which had raised over $10,000 in a week helping the families of Terry Sutton and his best friend Jason Williams. Owners of the Chipman Hotel and Chipman Market hosted a buffet on April 8, 2017 at the hotel and around $750 more was raised for the victims’ families. On the GoFundMe page, it was written that: “On the first weekend of April 2017 we lost two wonderful and loving friends, sons and fathers to a tragic event that took their lives. Terry Sutton and Jason Williams were wonderful and hard-working men who left behind six children between the two of them.” Williams was a father of two who just moved from Ontario to Chipman to join his best friend for work. Mayor of Chipman in 2017 Jim Palmer told The Lamont Leader in its April 11, 2017 issue that the village had contacted the Fort Saskatchewan RCMP between 20 and 25 times about problems at the Nickerson residence. “As soon as they moved in the problems started,” said Mayor Palmer. The mayor stated at the time that although neighbours had numerous run-ins with the Nickersons’ antics “It didn’t matter who complained”, nothing was ever done. “They were causing nothing but grief,” said the disgusted and frustrated mayor at the time. A town hall meeting was set up for April 28, 2017 for village residents to discuss issues such as this with the RCMP at the National Hall in Chipman.