Bread-crumb letter trail highlights Hoefman murder trial

By Alex McCuaig Special to the News on March 6, 2021.

A Medicine Hat court heard of a series of letters providing instructions for the target of a million-dollar shakedown plot to follow and “finish the game,” during testimony on Friday at the Court of Queen’s Bench.

Robert Hoefman, 59, is accused of being behind the plot to leverage $1 million from the extortion target or he would be responsible for people in the city being killed, including those close to him.

Hoefman is also accused of the first-degree murder of 63-year-old James Satre on Oct. 10, 2017 as part of that plan.

The target of the extortion can’t be identified due to a court-ordered publication ban.

In an agreed statement of facts, the court heard how a Medicine Hat police officer was dressed as the extortion target and drove the man’s car following a bread-crumb trail of letters.

The statement described how the target was to find a series of three notes, each explaining how to find the next until the drop spot for the money would be revealed and the man would be able to, “finish the game,” as was described in the extortion letter.

Police snipers, surveillance units and trail cameras were deployed on Oct. 16, 2017 as officers tried to locate the extortionist as the cash drop spot was revealed to be a walking path near College Drive.

The cross-examination of the man who found the body of Satre began Friday morning’s testimony much like it ended on Thursday, with Hoefman’s defence counsel Ian McKay taking shots at witness Joseph Dolan’s credibility.

McKay repeatedly brought up Dolan’s criminal record, including his conviction related to government income support payment fraud, and again appearing to question the man’s claim of blindness by asking how he was able to jaywalk across a busy four-lane divided road with a visual impairment.

The court also saw dash-cam evidence of the minutes prior to and after the initial 911 call alerting first-responders to the body of Satre at 7:33 a.m. on Oct. 11, 2017.

The video was taken from the other end of the Mill Street block but showed a man walking into the alley where Satre was found and seconds later walking or jogging at a quick pace – and without any signs of hesitation – into Dolan’s home.

A short time later, the same individual, believed to be Dolan, waved down the first officers who arrived at the scene, including Medicine Hat police patrol Sgt. Darlene Garrecht.

Garrecht testified to checking for signs of life despite indications the man had been dead for some time, the pool of blood next to his body and, “a large hole in the chest of Mr. Satre.”

She testified to there being no signs of anything out of place in Satre’s home and that cash, cellphone and pot plants were visible in the house.

On Thursday, the court heard evidence from a witness who described seeing a man dressed in a black hoodie pulled over as far as it could go wearing large dark-coloured sunglasses the evening before Satre was found dead.

The trial is being heard by a 13-member jury which is expected to hear testimony for up to seven weeks.