Former RCMP officer Bernie Herman enters the Court of King’s Bench on the second day of his trial in Prince Albert, Sask. on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards
PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Crown prosecutors say a Saskatchewan Mountie deliberately lured his lover to an isolated area to kill him, but the officer’s lawyer argues the shooting was in self-defence.
Bernie Herman, who is 55, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Braden Herman.
The two men are not related.
Braden Herman’s naked body was found in 2021 in a park on the outskirts of Prince Albert.
Prosecutor Jennifer Schmidt says in the trial’s closing arguments that Bernie Herman’s testimony about not being able to remember what happened cannot be believed.
Defence lawyer Darren Kraushaar told court the men’s relationship was violent and toxic and the shooting was not planned or deliberate.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2023.