THE BATTLEFORDS - Award-winning crime journalist Lisa Joy has just released a new book called Hostage in the House: Most Horrific Gang Murder in Saskatchewan History, about the Tiki Laverdiere murder case that took place in North Battleford.
Joy wrote her book about covering the Laverdiere murder trials and preliminary hearings as the crime and court reporter for the Battlefords News-Optimist and SaskToday.
Laverdiere, 25, was first reported missing on May 12, 2019. She was last seen in North Battleford on May 1, 2019. Human remains were found in a rural area outside North Battleford on July 11, 2019, and confirmed to be Laverdiere on July 16 of that year. Ten people have since been convicted in the case.
Joy said in an e-mail to SaskToday that she became interested in the story when she began learning more about street gangs in Saskatchewan, which play a significant part in the case:
"When I was hired by Tim Shoults with Glacier Media in B.C. to be a crime and court reporter for the Battlefords News-Optimist / SaskToday, his first and main directive to me was 'dig into the gangs in Saskatchewan.'
"Moving from Alberta for the job, which was only a province away, I had no idea that the street gang problem in Saskatchewan was as bad as I soon discovered. Tiki Laverdiere’s murder was gang-related, and I hoped that by telling this story people see in order to deal with the street gang problem, we must first address racism, colonialism and intergenerational trauma.
"Indigenous lawyer Eleanore Sunchild had pointed out the historical significance of the Battlefords as the epicentre of colonialism in Canada. She said that is where colonialism started. So, I also found it interesting that the most brutal gang murder in the province’s history was in North Battleford."
Excerpt from the book:
“Hostage in the house,” hollered Soaring Eagle Whitstone, alerting fellow Westside Outlawz street gang members as she forced a terrified and bound Tiki Laverdiere inside a North Battleford, Sask., home at knifepoint.
People who knew 25-year-old Tiki kidnapped and tortured her for hours before killing her and dumping her body in a slough.
Tiki’s life was taken from her in the most brutal manner in a senseless act of violence. The details of her final hours are too gruesome and horrifying to even comprehend.
On why she decided to write a book about the Laverdiere case, Joy explained: "In open court, North Battleford Senior Crown Prosecutor Chris Browne called Tiki Laverdiere’s murder a ‘real life horror movie,’ and Shayla Orthner’s defence lawyer Patrick McDougall described it as the ‘most horrific gang murder in Saskatchewan history.’"
"Listening to the details coming out in Jesse Sangster’s preliminary hearing in September and October 2020, I sat in disbelief and horror hearing the details. I knew if it had that effect on me it would have that effect on readers," she added.
Hostage in the House is available through Amazon.
