Hoefman trial continues with further details on trail of letters
By medicinehatnews on March 8, 2021.
Medicine Hat police officers described details of following a trail of letters to a million-dollar extortion drop-off spot and briefly losing track of a duffle bag containing the payoff, according to testimony in the trial of Robert Hoefman on Monday. Hoefman is charged with extortion of an individual as well as the first-degree murder of James Satre in October 2017. The target of the extortion can’t be identified due to a publication ban. Medicine Hat police officers described going through the three spots where letters were placed in the days leading up to Oct. 15. Each letter gave instruction to where to find the next one, eventually revealing a drop spot for a duffle bag which was to contain a million dollars. Police witnesses testified that human surveillance of the drop spot located along a trail leading from College Drive to Kipling Street ended on the morning of Oct. 18, 2017 after two days. Police snipers and tactical units that had been in stationed in the area were replaced with trail cameras and the bag containing a GPS tracker. Movement had been detected by the tracker as well as the trail camera, which was triggered by mid-day on Oct. 18 with MHPS Staff-Sgt. Cory Both and another officer dispatched to check on the duffle bag’s status. After the initial search failed to located the duffle bag, it was eventually found submerged in a hole in a nearby marsh. Testimony continues this afternoon. 9-8
