Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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Megan Gallagher’s family has been waiting five years for answers after the 30-year-old was killed in 2020.
At Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench on Friday, a jury found Roderick Sutherland guilty of manslaughter, unlawful confinement and offering an indignity to human remains in relation to Gallagher’s death.
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Her mother Ingrid MacColl says while she feels relieved about the verdict, she still has many questions about the justice system.
In September 2020, Gallagher was killed in Sutherland’s garage on Weldon Avenue by a group of people affiliated with the Terror Squad gang.
Her body was put in the back of a truck and thrown off the St. Louis Bridge into the South Saskatchewan River, where her remains were found two years later.
Six people other than Sutherland were convicted of charges related to Gallagher’s death that include second degree murder, manslaughter, and offering an indignity to human remains.
Outside of the courthouse on Friday, Gallagher’s father Brian said it’s been five years and 29 days since he last saw his daughter, and while there is a sense of relief it’s not closure.
“The only closure that we could ever get is if Megan was to walk through the door and give us a hug, share a meal with us (and) share a Christmas,” he told reporters.
“That’s been taken from us.”
Megan Gallagher was last seen in 2020 on video surveillance at a convenience store on Diefenbaker Drive. Her remains were found two years later along the South Saskatchewan River. (Facebook)
Gallagher said his daughter had a joyful spirit, was humorous and “was compassionate beyond belief.”
“She would give her last cigarette to you. She was generous to a fault (and) to the point that she would give up just about everything that she had to help somebody.”
Gallagher reflected on the moment he heard the guilty verdict from the jury, and said it was unlike any experience he’s had before.
“It was like something was released from my chest,” he said.
Gallagher said he hopes stories like Megan’s can act as a voice for other missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls who didn’t have a chance to speak, and hopes this is a turning point for change within the justice system.
“Some of the sentences that we’ve witnessed supporting other families have been absurd, ridiculous,” he said. “It gives the people that are involved in doing this licence to keep on doing it.”
During the trial Justice John Morrall instructed Gallagher’s family to stop wearing hoodies with Gallagher’s face that read “murdered but not forgotten,” a concern brought forward by defence lawyer Blaine Beaven’s team.
Beaven said the hoodies could have risked making an impression on the jury, and “there shouldn’t be outside influence, they have to focus on what the evidence is in the case and make their determination on that.”
However, Gallagher’s family voiced their own concerns over the hoodies, and her stepmother Deb Gallagher said pictures are all they have left to remember her by.
“I think it was an insult to every woman who has been silenced (and) it perpetuates the violence towards women,” she said.
Sentencing submissions are set to be made for Roderick Sutherland on Dec. 19.
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