The Richardson Family Murders: How A 12-Year-Old Helped Murder Her Family with Her 23-Year-Old 'Boyfriend'

It was a crime that shocked the small Canadian city of Medicine Hat, Alberta.

On April 23, 2006, the bodies of Marc Richardson, 42, and his wife Debra, 48, were found in the basement of their split-level home, the CBC reported.

Both parents had been viciously attacked. Marc was stabbed 24 times and Debra was stabbed 12 times, per CBC. Their 8-year-old son Tyler was found dead in his upstairs bedroom. The boy’s jugular vein was severed and he had stab wounds to his chest and face, according to the outlet.

The case took a shocking turn when the couple’s 12-year-old daughter Jasmine, who is not named in Canada because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and her 23-year-old high school dropout boyfriend Jeremy Steinke were arrested in Saskatchewan the following day for the brutal slayings, per Global News.

Authorities believed Jasmine hatched the murderous scheme because her parents disapproved of Steinke, who was 11 years her senior, according to Global News.

"I have this plan,” she allegedly emailed Steinke, a self-proclaimed 300-year-old werewolf who wore a vial of blood around his neck, who she met at a punk rock concert earlier that year, per The New Zealand Herald. “It begins with me killing them and ends with me living with you."

Jasmine allegedly left the basement window open for Steinke so he could enter, according to The Herald. He entered around 5 a.m. and killed Debra first before attacking Marc. Before he died, he allegedly asked Steinke, who was wearing a mask, "Why?"

Steinke allegedly responded, “It’s what your daughter wanted,” per The Herald.

After the slayings, the couple was seen canoodling at a house party, according to Global News.

At trial, the Crown hinted that the killings could have been inspired by Steinke’s favorite movie Natural Born Killers, the Oliver Stone directed story about a serial killer couple (played by Juliette Lewis and Woody Harrelson) who kill her parents before going on a three-state murder spree, per Global News.

Jasmine was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder after a jury deliberated for three hours in the Court of Queen's Bench in Medicine Hat, CBC reported.

She was thought to be the youngest person in Canada convicted of multiple counts of first-degree murder, per CBC.

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Jasmine received a 10-year Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS) sentence in 2007, the maximum for youth offenders between 12 and 14 years old, per Global News.

The following year, Steinke, who changed his name to Jackson May, received a life sentence, with eligibility for parole after 25 years, per Global News.

"He said he was extremely remorseful," Steinke's defense lawyer Alain Hepner said, per CBC. "If he could take it back, he would, but he just couldn't speak. He actually did say those things. I think it's an apology. I definitely think that's what it is."

Jasmine spent four years in a psychiatric institution and four and a half years under conditional supervision in the community before she was released in 2016, per The Herald.

At her final sentencing review before she was released, a judge told the then 22-year-old that she had met all her rehabilitation goals.

“I think your parents would be rather proud of you,” the judge said, according to CBC. "Clearly you cannot undo the past; you can only live each day with the knowledge you can control how you behave and what you do each day."