NORTH BATTLEFORD – A former member of the Westside Outlawz street gang convicted for her role in the murder of Tiki Laverdiere of Edmonton, Alta., asked to be sent back to prison after being granted day parole.
During a recent hearing with the Parole Board of Canada, 32-year-old Shayla-Ann Victoria Orthner said she wanted to go back to prison.
“Being in jail was easier,” she told her parole officer.
Parole documents reveal that Orthner found the transition to freedom overwhelming. She reported difficulties in securing employment and managing outstanding driving fines. The constraints of her day parole, particularly the inability to have her son at the community-based residential facility (CBRF) and not being able to have romantic intimacy with her fiancé, compounded her frustrations.
On Sept. 23, the Parole Board granted Orthner's wish and revoked her day parole.
According to parole documents, Orthner encountered a fellow female offender at a mall on the morning of April 13. While the meeting was unplanned, it escalated when her friend entered a store and didn’t return, prompting Orthner to speculate that the woman had fled.
Following this encounter, Orthner went with her fiancé to a local casino where they drank shots. He was later hospitalized for alcohol poisoning, while Orthner remained at the CBRF. Staff there described her as being in a highly emotional state, during which she expressed intentions to go "unlawfully at large."
A July 2 Parole Board addendum noted that after Orthner was sent back to prison, she was identified as an instigator in one security incident. Orthner was also suspected of being involved in the institutional prescription drug trade.
Despite this, a June 28 report from a prison psychologist painted a more positive picture of Orthner. The psychologist said that Orthner is "honestly reflecting on her choices" and has used her time in custody as an opportunity for personal growth. The report suggested that during her previous struggles, Orthner felt overwhelmed and was unable to effectively advocate for herself, leading to her expressed desire to return to prison.
While incarcerated, before being granted day parole, Orthner didn’t have any institutional charges and she completed all of the recommended programs. She was the chair of the Inmate Welfare Committee, was employed, and had maintained her sobriety since September 2019. She also started taking medication for ADHD and worked with a counsellor on her PTSD symptoms.
Parole documents reveal that Orthner was born in a correctional centre while her mother was serving time. She didn’t know who her father was and was raised alone by her mother. She was placed in foster care for two years until her mother regained custody. Her mother died in 2006 and Orthner was placed back in foster care where she reported experiencing abuse.
She became addicted to crystal methamphetamine and also abused cocaine, marijuana, and MDMA.
Orthner was a member of Westside Outlawz and was a “soldier,” according to both court testimony and parole documents. She initially started selling drugs for Westside Outlawz and then started doing jobs for them, such as assaulting people.
In August 2022, Orthner was sentenced in Battleford Court of Queen's Bench to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Laverdiere’s death. She was originally charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, improperly interfering with human remains, and theft of a vehicle. Orthner was given 1,671 days credit for pre-trial time served. This meant she had 1,981 days left to serve effective Aug. 26, 2022.
Orthner was one of the 10 people convicted in the May 2019 murder of Laverdiere in North Battleford. From July 2019 to August 2020, police had arrested the 10 in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes led the investigation, with support from more than 20 RCMP units and four partner agencies.
On April 26, 2024, the five-year publication ban on the 10 accused in Laverdiere's murder was lifted.
On May 12, 2019, Laverdiere’s mother had reported her missing to Battlefords RCMP. Laverdiere’s last contact with her family was on May 1, 2019, according to RCMP.
On July 11, 2019, a police dog found Laverdiere's remains in a rural area outside of North Battleford while RCMP were conducting a ground search.
Court previously heard that Laverdiere’s murder was a gang murder by Westside Outlawz, which is based out of Onion Lake Cree Nation and has ties to Redd Alert in Edmonton.
Laverdiere was tortured for hours before her body was dumped in a rural location near North Battleford.
Court heard that Laverdiere’s murder was in retaliation for Tristen Cook-Buckle’s murder in Edmonton weeks earlier. He was the “commander” of Redd Alert in Edmonton, and Laverdiere was his “right-hand" woman.
