Years-old human rights case still going involving convicted killer
By COLLIN GALLANT on December 11, 2021.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant A Medicine Hat man convicted of first-degree murder and extortion made a human rights complaint weeks before the crimes took place four years ago, new court documents state. Robert Siesta Hoefman, 59, petitioned the Alberta Human Rights Commission in September 2017 alleging discrimination led to his dismissal as a construction superintendent a year earlier. That came after he went on medical leave in 2015 as the result, Hoefman argued, of “extreme and unusual mental abuse” on the job that heightened issues with anxiety. Lawyers for the local construction company argue that managers “had no knowledge of the complainant’s mental health issues,” and the position was eliminated in 2016 due to a significant downturn in business activity. A case summary states their argument that a reorganization of the workforce eliminated the position and there was a “lack of communication” from Hoefman, who was then on medical leave. The statutes of the case is not known. The Alberta Human Rights Commission does not provide information about ongoing investigations or even hearings until their conclusion. The case only became public knowledge in late November when the commission made a ruling on a procedural matter and that judgment was published. Hoefman’s criminal trial in March heard testimony from his family members about his declining mental state following job loss. The now 59-year-old man collapsed in court just as sentencing was set to take place – an episode described as the result of anxiety. Hoefman appealed the verdict that month on the grounds the trial judge wrongly ruled against his claim that Medicine Hat police had contravened his rights during their investigation and that the verdict was unreasonable. As remedy he asked for a new trial by judge and jury. The Alberta Court of Appeal has not yet decided the merit of the appeal. In the current matter before the Human Rights tribunal, Hoefman applied this fall through his legal team that his wife should be allowed to act as a “litigation representative” – a role typically allowed to minors, missing persons, or the mentally incapacitated – even though she would be presenting evidence to the commission. That followed an initial hearing in August that was suspended by the tribunal when Hoefman – attending via telephone from prison – became agitated and could not continue. Hoefman provided a 2016 worker’s compensation medical board report, citing anxiety, and psychologists’ reports from early 2017 that describe him as handicapped by severe symptoms of anxiety, panic and social anxiety. Hoefman was arrested in late 2017 in connection to an extortion plot in Medicine Hat that resulted in the killing of James Satre at his south Flats area home on Oct. 11. The Human Rights complaint was filed on Sept. 13. The first extortion letter was received by a Medicine Hat business person on Oct. 10 and forwarded to police. Investigators say they have not been able to establish any connection between Hoefman, Satre or the extortion target, whose name is protected under a publication ban. Prosecutors say Satre was a randomly selected victim and the killing was meant to prove the seriousness of the extortion threat. At the jury trial, which included News staff testimony to verify a separate letter, Hoefman was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. 23-22
