Sentencing delayed for man guilty of vehicle theft and death of 18-year-old

By Peggy Revell on February 16, 2018.

prevell@medicinehatnews.com @MHNprevell

Sentencing has been pushed back for a man who pled guilty to vehicle theft and dangerous driving that ultimately led to the death of an 18-year-old woman.

Counsel for Cody David Michell, 25, requested the adjournment to March 11, having just received a number of reports for consideration during sentencing that need to be looked through —a pre-sentencing report, Gladue report and psychological report, which will include a risk assessment.

Michell pled guilty to two counts of hit-and-runs, dangerous driving causing death, having a stolen vehicle and attempting to disarm a police officer.

Michell is accused of stealing a pickup truck on Sept. 11, fleeing in it at a high rate of speed, causing a collision at the intersection of 12th Street NE and Division Avenue, then continuing to drive down 12th Street at an extreme speed until colliding with a Toyota Camry at Parkview Drive.

The driver of the Camry, Cerys Passmore, was pronounced dead at the scene.

When taken to hospital, Michell attempted to pull an officer’s pistol from the holster but was prevented from doing so and brought under control by the officer and medical staff.

Homicide Case

It was a brief court appearance Thursday for a Medicine Hat man charged with extortion and first-degree murder in the death of 64-year-old James Satre.

Robert S. Hoefman appeared by closed-circuit TV before the Medicine Hat Provincial Court from remand, with defence counsel — local lawyer Lyndon Heidinger — requesting an adjournment to March 1.

Hoefman, 55, was originally arrested Nov. 9 on a single count of extortion. He has been in custody since then, completing psychiatric evaluations in Calgary.

Police began investigating the extortion Oct. 10. Then, on Oct. 11, Satre’s body was found in an alleyway near his home by the intersection of Mill Street and Smelter Avenue. Police announced the two investigations were possibly linked.

The charge of first-degree murder was laid in January, with police saying the murder was used to “strike fear” into the extortion victims.

Police also stated Satre appears to be a “victim of circumstance and location,” as he did not appear to be connected to the accused or extortion victims in any matter.

Bank robbery

It’s sit and wait right now for a Winnipeg-man accused of two bank robberies in Medicine Hat, as he waits for bail review in Saskatchewan.

Counsel representing 54-year-old Stephen Vogelsang requested an adjournment to March 8, as they wait to see if a bail review there is successful, having already secured bail in Alberta.

Vogelsang was arrested and charged in Medicine Hat in October after two local banks were robbed. After his arrest, police agencies in Saskatchewan announced they would also be laying charges against Vogelsang for two bank robberies in Regina, and one in Saskatoon.

The case made national news as Vogelsang is better known for his former job as a news director at CTV Winnipeg, and then becoming a journalism instructor at Red River College in Winnipeg from 2002-2011.