Canadian True Crime - 97 The Murder of Maranda Shelly Peter

Episode Date: October 1, 2021

Yukon | In 1996, 15 year old Maranda Shelly Peter waved to her mother as she left to go to the movies with her boyfriend. But the next morning, Maranda hadn't returned home.It would take some time, but the discovery of where Maranda really was would shake the territory. Resources on intergenerational or transgenerational trauma:Breaking the Chains of Generational Trauma by Elizabeth Dixon for Psychology TodayHow residential school trauma of previous generations continues to tear through Indigenous families by Marcy Cuttler for CBC NewsWhat is Intergenerational trauma—and how do you heal from it? by Colleen Seto for lovallove.caCanadian True Crime donates monthly to help those facing injustice.This month we have donated to: True North AidThanks for supporting our sponsors!See the special offer codes here Don't like the ads?Access early episodes without the ads on Patreon and Supercast. Learn moreWebsite and social medias:Website: www.canadiantruecrime.caFacebook: facebook.com/CanadianTrueCrimeTwitter: @CanadianTCpodInstagram: @CanadianTrueCrimePodInstagram: @kristileehelloCredits: Research: Haley GrayWriting: Kristi LeeAudio editing and production: We Talk of Dreams Disclaimer voiced by the host of TrueTheme Song: We Talk of DreamsAll credits and information sources can be found on the page for this episode at canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production, funded mainly through advertising. The podcast often has course language and disturbing content, and it's not for everyone. Yukon is the least populated province or territory in Canada, and it shares a border with the US state of Alaska. Of the 42,000 people who now live in the Yukon, 33,000 of those live in Whitehorse, the capital and only city in the territory. In the year 1996, two of those residents were Jesse Peter and her 15-year-old daughter Miranda Shelley Peter.

Both were Cascadenna First Nation from the community of Ross River, and they were currently living in an apartment in the city of Whitehorse. Not much is publicly known about their life there, but we do know it was not an easy one. The 15-year-old Miranda was in a relationship with a 16-year-old named James Ward, who lived nearby with his father and siblings. The two teenagers were often between each other's houses. Both Miranda and James had experienced hardship throughout their lives, and they resorted to a common way of coping — drinking.

They were not an anomaly. Teenage drinking was a major problem in the Yukon, according to a 1998 report commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Services. The report found that the drinking problem was overwhelmingly looked at as a normal part of growing up, and those who would ordinarily speak up about it had become complacent. Miranda Peter and James Ward were right in the thick of it, with a relationship that became abusive pretty early on. James was reportedly violent and depressive when he drank, and Miranda stood up for herself

and fought back. Their relationship was punctuated by explosive fights and breakups. Miranda often ran away from home for days at a time to escape — one time she was gone for a week, but she always came back. It was Saturday night, March 2, 1996, just two weeks before Miranda's 16th birthday. She and James had been going out for seven months on and off, and that day she'd told her friends that she'd had it with the fighting. She was ready to break things off once and for all.

But by that evening, things were back to normal — well, normal for them, as they got ready to go to the movies at Miranda's apartment. Her mother Jesse said goodbye to them in the foyer of the building. The next morning, James called the house to speak to Miranda. Jesse responded with surprise, because Miranda had not returned home yet. James indicated he hadn't seen her either since they parted ways the night before. Jesse decided to wait and see if she came home. Miranda Peter did not return home.

There are probably a number of reasons why her mother Jesse waited for 48 hours before reporting her missing. Miranda did have a history of running away and coming back. But also, Indigenous people do have trust issues when it comes to the prospect of police services like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police actually helping them. After all, the very reason for the RCMP's existence in the first place was to clear out Indigenous people from their own land so European settlers could profit from it. It was the Mounties who enforced the violent removal of Indigenous children from their

families through the residential schools and 60s scoop tragedies. And when it comes to a right to justice and fair treatment by law enforcement, Indigenous people have lost out there too, with the historical mishandling of cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous people. Cases are met with indifference, and negative stereotypes often lead to Indigenous deaths and disappearances being investigated differently to other cases, resulting in fewer solved cases. This is what allowed predators like Robert Picton to get away with killing unchecked

for so long. All of this would be reported in the 2019 final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. But back in 1996, Jesse Peter didn't need the report because she was about to be living it. And these factors likely told her that not much would be done about Miranda's disappearance until she waited 48 hours to report it. So she did, telling the White Horse RCMP detachment that the last time she saw Miranda was in

the foyer of the apartment building before she left for the movies with James. Jesse was told that the RCMP would launch an investigation to find her daughter. That was March 5th, 1996. Later, print media reports would speak in general terms of a large-scale investigation, describing it as a massive manhunt that had been launched by the RCMP to find Miranda Peter right away. But the daily print news archives from the area at the time don't provide any mention of what was actually done to find Miranda.

In fact, she wasn't mentioned in the print media at all for more than two weeks and when she finally was, her name was misspelled, starting with M-I-R instead of M-A-R. Regardless of spelling, for reasons that are unknown, it took two and a half weeks, from Jesse reporting Miranda missing to the details being passed along to the media with any kind of priority. That announcement appeared on page 2 of the Whitehorse Daily Star with the headline Police Look for Missing Teenager. The first paragraph starts with, the RCMP are asking the public for help finding Miranda

Shelley Peter, who went missing from her home almost three weeks ago. That was the very first announcement of her disappearance. The article described Miranda alongside what appears to be the only photo that exists of her publicly. She was of average height and slim build and the photo is slightly blurry but you can make out her delicate features, brown eyes and shoulder length black hair. Miranda's birthday had come and gone since she went missing so she was now 16 years old and when she was last seen she was wearing a bomber style Chicago Bulls jacket with a

long sleeve shirt, beige jeans and black ankle high lace up leather boots. The article went on to quote an RCMP spokesperson who said, the cause of her disappearance is unknown and despite their enquiries throughout Western Canada and Alaska to cover all the bases they had been unable to come up with any leads to date. At least now the public were on the lookout. That was the Friday and over the weekend RCMP investigators suddenly found themselves a lot busier. A new article appeared on the Tuesday and while it mentioned Miranda Peter she was

buried in a new much bigger story. Three more people had gone missing over the weekend and the RCMP said they were strapped. First there was a 15 year old indigenous boy who was last seen in the downtown area before he went missing. Then the RCMP were looking for what seemed to be an escaped hospital patient followed by a 9 year old child who wandered away from school. Miranda was not mentioned until right at the end of the article and it was brief, quote to top it all off police were continuing their search for Miranda Peter, the 16 year old

who went missing early this month. The article quoted an RCMP spokesperson who said they were taxed to the max. By the time the article appeared in the paper the missing school kid and hospital patient were located but the 15 year old boy was still missing along with Miranda. His name was Justin Jim. He belonged to Quinlan Dunn First Nation and was last seen in the downtown area of Whitehorse. The article said the RCMP suspected alcohol may have been a factor in his disappearance. The day after Justin went missing police reportedly found his baseball cap in the bush and a search

of that area was conducted. The RCMP said they used a helicopter equipped with an infrared heat sensor device, snowmobiles, the only available police dog and ground search and rescue searches. Although the RCMP provided several references to a massive search that had been conducted for Miranda Peter across western Canada and Alaska there were no specifics given. From a comparison of the news archives it seems that Miranda did not benefit from the same level of search effort from the RCMP that Justin did. The next day the Whitehorse Daily Star reported that after two days of searching for Justin

Jim with no luck the police reportedly decided to scale back the search so they could move in a different direction with the case. RCMP spokesperson Constable Al Lucia was quoted as saying the decision was made in conjunction with Justin's family. And while the article included a picture of both Justin and Miranda the two missing teenagers it focused mainly on Justin. Miranda wasn't mentioned at all until the final two paragraphs where it said she was still missing and she had a history of running away for a week.

But despite the fact that she'd now been missing for more than three the RCMP spokesperson was quoted as saying there was nothing to suggest foul play with either Miranda Peter or Justin Jim. Two days later there was another article that said both Miranda and Justin were still missing but the RCMP spokesperson wanted to dispel some rumours that her body had been found in a tent. He said that wasn't true Miranda was still missing. End of article no reminder of what she looked like no public call to action.

Three weeks went by without another mention of either Miranda or Justin but then a discovery made the front page news of the White Horse Daily Star missing youths body discovered. An airplane pilot had spotted a body lying at the base of a large pine tree near the White Horse airport partially hidden from view. It was identified as 15 year old Justin Jim the position he'd been found in indicated he had laid down in the snow and went to sleep never to wake up a freezing death. By that point it had been 24 days since he had last been seen Justin had reportedly been partying that night sharing a bottle of whiskey with friends while they went to a few different

house parties. The last time he was seen he was walking away from his friend group crossing the road by himself. Justin Jim's death was determined to be from a combination of hypothermia and alcohol intoxication. His blood alcohol level was 0.09 just slightly above the limit to drive and the coroner said that it was reasonable to assume that while he was walking through the wooded area he had been overcome by the symptoms of hypothermia. There was no indication of foul play disease nor injury according to the RCMP.

Justin Jim's death was deemed to be accidental. Miranda Peter was mentioned in the final paragraph of the article she was the only one still missing. By that point it had been four months and the RCMP said they were still investigating her disappearance but casually dropped in that they had what they described as two confirmed sightings. One in Watson Lake a town about 430km from Whitehorse. There was no further information about the sighting or how it had been confirmed though.

The other sighting was in Whitehorse which the RCMP spokesperson said had been confirmed by comparing to photos of Miranda but this was all the information that had been given and the last thing that would be said about it. It's not known what her family thought about the sightings. The spokesperson said they had no new leads and crime stoppers hadn't received any new tips either. The article listed strategies that the RCMP had used in the search for Miranda. She had been registered with Child Find an international agency for missing persons.

All social services agencies across western Canada were notified of her disappearance and bulletins had been sent to police across the country. The article ended with another quote from spokesperson Al Lucia who said without the public's help it will be almost impossible to locate the teen. 1996 turned into 1997 with no new information. It didn't seem that the search for Miranda ever heated up in the first place but by that point nine months after her disappearance it was certainly ice cold. There were no new updates for a while.

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Go to squarespace.com slash ctc with offer code CTC and get your passion project off the ground today. Miranda's 16-year-old boyfriend James Joe Ward was born in 1980 to parents James Sr. and Cynthia. The family is indigenous from Carcross Taggish First Nation. By all accounts, the Ward family had a long history of engaging in hazardous alcohol use and domestic violence, particularly the men. When they drank, they became especially abusive to the women in their lives.

James's father was abusive, his grandfather was abusive, and the line continues. There's a term for this. It's called intergenerational trauma. It's the ongoing impact of traumatic events that happened in prior generations but continues to impact the next. It was first recognized in the children of Holocaust survivors who were documented to have unusually high rates of psychological distress, even though they themselves didn't live through the Holocaust.

When the trauma is not dealt with, either because it was significant and too overwhelming or the survivor doesn't recognize it, or they don't have the opportunity or means to get help, it festers. All it takes is for trauma to affect just one member of a family, and it has the potential to erode the family foundation and invite dysfunction that will echo in subsequent generations. Intergenerational trauma is common after war, persecution, sexual abuse, slavery, violence, natural disasters, famine, displacement and more, but it's rarely ever studied or discussed without mention of the indigenous peoples of Canada.

After being violently dispossessed of their land during colonization and subjected to repeated efforts to exterminate their culture after that, the government forcibly removed 150,000 of their children and taught them that parenting was about punishment, abuse, violence, coercion and control. We now know that thousands of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were buried in unmarked graves right on their residential school grounds, and those who survived dealt with anger, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, PTSD, high suicide rates and more. And as with all people, when we don't have the tools to heal from trauma, it's practically

impossible to break the cycle, so we often cope by misusing alcohol and drugs and engaging in self-harm and other destructive behaviors. And the dark, debilitating legacy of all of this, from the effects of the trauma to the coping mechanisms, are all transmitted to later generations. This is what happened with James Joe Ward. Both of his parents drank heavily and had what was described as a stormy relationship until they separated when James was three. His mother Cynthia reportedly cut all contact and moved to Washington State, US, and James

stayed with his father James Sr. in the Yukon. But the cycle of abuse continued. James Sr. had other partners and was convicted multiple times for spousal violence. James was reportedly the one who had to run and get help. James Sr. was also abusive towards his son. Choking was the go-to violent move that had been passed down from generation to generation in this family, and James was subjected to it from childhood. As James grew older, his father's discipline increased, and before long, James Sr. would

grab his son by the throat, lift him up, and hold him there as he struggled to breathe. Despite the violence, James did well at school and generally stayed out of trouble. But all that changed once he had Grade 7. It had been years since James spoke with his mother Cynthia, but that year she got custody of him, and he moved to Washington State to live with her. But things did not go well, and in less than a year he was removed from his mother's care because of neglect. Twelve-year-old James returned to the Yukon to live with his dad again, but this upheaval

under those circumstances proved to be a pivotal moment for him, another layer of trauma. His grades plummeted, and he started playing up at the few classes he did show up to. Before long, he was expelled. To cope, he fell back on the only thing he'd ever known, the thing he'd seen modelled by his father and his grandfather, alcohol, and just like them, he became irritable, aggressive, and violent when he drank. By the time James ward was 15, he was considered an acute alcoholic, drinking 12-15 bottles of beer per day, as well as more than half a litre of hard liquor.

Even without taking into consideration any drugs he used, the alcohol alone was an expensive habit for a 15-year-old, and to pay for it he resorted to petty crime, stealing from local businesses and homes. Before long, he met 15-year-old Miranda Peter through her brother, and they started dating and drinking together and fighting. It was normal to them. In the months before Miranda's disappearance, there were several incidents that were particularly bad.

Fuelled by alcohol, James and Miranda were at his house and had been having an ongoing fight. James Sr. was home and had to intervene three times, and the fourth time he called the RCMP Officers arrived to find the teenagers in James's bedroom extremely drunk. Miranda had a welt on her forehead, bruises on her neck, and fresh evidence of self-harming behaviors. She was taken to hospital and James was arrested and taken to the station. At the hospital, a doctor looked Miranda over and noticed the 15-year-old had spots behind

both her ears that indicated there had been some kind of external pressure applied to her head, prolonged force on the tissue, almost like she'd been grabbed around the throat. While James was charged, the case never made it to court because the two witnesses, Miranda and James Sr., refused to testify against him. Another time, less than two months before Miranda went missing, James was extremely drunk and choked Miranda until she was completely unconscious but still alive. Miranda and James would fight violently, break up, get back together again, fight again, break up again, get back together, rinse and repeat, the cycle of abuse.

Evidently, Miranda was growing increasingly wary, and on the day she was last seen, that Saturday night in March 1996, just weeks before her 16th birthday, she reportedly told her friends that she wanted to officially end her relationship with James. But by that evening, the pair were back at Miranda's apartment getting ready to go out like nothing had happened. While the news archives talk about the last time Jesse saw her daughter in the foyer of the apartment building, none of them talk about the fact that Miranda was leaving for the movies with James.

Other than the fact that he called the next morning to speak to her and learned that she never made it home, there is no information publicly available about what his side of the story was. According to James' friends though, he coped about as well as you could expect after Miranda disappeared. He went on a bender in Whitehorse for a few days and then went to Tesslin, a village located about 180km away for a week, before returning home. It's not known when investigators first spoke with him or what he said to them about the

trip to the movies, or when he and Miranda parted ways that night. All the RCMP would say was that the cause of Miranda's disappearance was unknown, which could be interpreted as meaning that James Ward had been cleared and they didn't consider him a suspect. But it was unusual that there was no information given to the public about where she was last seen and by who, because that could at least serve to focus their attention. But there was nothing. As James' alcohol use reached hazardous levels, so too did his violent behaviour and he was

quick to anger. When someone would ask where Miranda was, his hand would go right to their throat. This reportedly happened on multiple occasions. It would later come out that around 3 months after Miranda's disappearance, James was visiting the house of an acquaintance named Tanya and he said he was very drunk and angry. He told her that he had a deep, dark secret, but if he was to tell her, he'd have to kill her, too. She said James continued to threaten her and it escalated to him putting both hands around

her neck and attempting to choke her until she couldn't breathe at all. She reported being scared she was going to die, but he let her go. That same night, he threatened to kill her son with a baseball bat. In the end, she ordered him to leave. He would later be charged with that assault. The first year anniversary of Miranda's disappearance came and went, along with what would have been her 17th birthday. She was still a missing Indigenous girl and it seemed she would stay that way.

That was, until May 28, 1997, 15 months after she went missing. James Ward's family were moving to a new house and his bedroom door in the basement was locked, so James Sr asked his son for the key. James ran upstairs to grab it while James Sr waited and waited. After a while, he realised that James had taken off. Without the key and needing to access that room to move the furniture, James Sr grabbed a knife to pick the lock. But when he opened the bedroom door, he was confronted with a strange smell.

He started moving furniture around and when he moved his son's water bed, he suddenly saw where the smell was coming from. There was a body under the bed. James Sr immediately called the RCMP. Investigators arrived quickly to assess the situation. An unidentified body in an advanced stage of decomposition found under the bed of a 17-year-old who had a missing girlfriend and was now on the run. Over the next four hours, neighbours watched curiously as various police vehicles parked

outside the property, with investigators dressed in full hazmat suits and protective masks moving in and around the house armed with video recording equipment. A picture was snapped for the front page of next morning's White Horse Daily Star. It was two men wheeling a body bag out of the ward house on a stretcher and loading it into a van. No one knew what was going on. When it came to the RCMP investigation, the body was assumed to belong to Miranda Shelley Peter but it would need to be formally identified and autopsyed.

The next important priority for investigators was to find James Joe Ward because there were concerns that he may be violent, suicidal or act in an unpredictable, self-destructive manner if encountered. The RCMP searched for him locally, conducting a ground search of the area and going door to door to see if anyone saw or knew anything but they had no luck. The next thing would be to ask for the public's help but there was a problem. Because James was 17 and a suspect in a murder, his identity was automatically protected under the Young Offenders Act.

So, the RCMP made a rare move and asked the courts to temporarily lift the publication ban so they could ask the public to be on the lookout for James. The courts permitted the media to publish James's name and photo for just over 24 hours. The shocking news made the front page headline in the White Horse Daily Star but it focused not on the discovery of the body but on the search for James. At this point, the public had no idea that this was even related to the disappearance of Miranda Peter since James had never been mentioned by name as her boyfriend. All that was said was the remains of an unidentified body found under a bed sparked a city-wide

search for a 17-year-old that they wanted to question. James Joe Ward was described as being six foot two and slim, indigenous with brown eyes, black hair and wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans and black running shoes. The public were told that there was no real danger but were also advised to contact White Horse RCMP as James could be a danger to himself and others. Local neighbours spoke to the paper, one saying that she hadn't seen James for a few weeks but she often saw him walk past her house to catch a bus, talking to girls. Another described him as real quiet, a person who hung out with his brothers a lot.

The paper also spoke with local business owners who recognised James from his photograph. He rented videos or played at video arcades in the area and was known to be a quiet customer. That same day police set up roadblocks in Alaska, northern British Columbia and Alberta. Investigators searched by boat along the Yukon River looking for any sign of the teenager. The following day, May 30th, James' father James Sr. read out a prepared statement to reporters pleading for James to turn himself in. Quote, James Sr. told his son that his grandma was particularly worried about him and they were

all really hurt. James didn't come forward but after this plea, the lead started pouring in and he was found within 24 hours. He was hiding in the basement of his grandmother's house. The publication ban was reinstated straight away, meaning that James was back to being the unnamed 17-year-old male but he'd now been charged with first degree murder as well as improperly or indecently interfering with a dead body. The body was positively identified as belonging to 15-year-old Miranda Shelley Peter through

dental records so her name was now the focus of future news bulletins. When she was found, she was still wearing that Chicago Bulls coat that she wore the night she disappeared, the night she was supposed to have gone to the movies with James, which means she had been dead for 15 months. Her face was covered by two plastic bags but the autopsy still needed to be completed to determine her cause of death. It would later be reported that the RCMP were suspicious of James Joe Ward so it's not known why his bedroom wasn't checked.

Miranda's family had also grown suspicious of him. Even James' own father, James Sr, was suspicious. And despite the massive manhunt for Miranda that spanned across Western Canada and Alaska, Miranda's family were devastated to learn her body had been in the house just across the street the whole time, in the bedroom of the boyfriend she'd supposedly gone to the movies with. The boyfriend who then took off on a bender for over a week. After the shocking news came out, acquaintances of James Ward couldn't help but start thinking

back on all they had seen and heard. Several recalled that they hung out with James in the basement of his house where his bedroom was and asked about the funny smell only to be told by James that it was a mildew problem. Several girls had been entertained by James romantically in that very same bedroom and were utterly horrified to discover that the dead body of his girlfriend was under the bed. But no one had any idea what had actually happened. How did Miranda die?

Why was she under the bed all that time? It would all come out at the trial. James Joe Ward's first degree murder charge was downgraded to second degree. He was kept in a youth facility until the courts decided whether to proceed in youth court or adult court. Finding the body of a 15-year-old girl under her boyfriend's bed after so long was shocking and salacious news to the local public and beyond. The sheer horror of the crime made James the target of threats by other inmates and he had

to be transferred and moved several times for his own safety. The year after that, 1998, James suddenly took a plea deal and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The charge of improperly or indecently interfering with a dead body was staked, the publication ban was lifted and his identity was able to be published again. The sentencing hearings were held in the largest courtroom in Whitehorse, presided over by Territorial Court Judge Hino Lillis, known for his interest in restorative justice and the development of alternative justice initiatives. Outside the courthouse, Miranda's family, friends and officials from Yukon First Nations

protested the downgrading of James's charges. They carried signs with slogans like, where is the justice? How much is a life worth? And sentence should fit the crime. Since James was pleading guilty to manslaughter, the Crown would present an agreed statement of facts in the hearings. This would be the first time that Miranda's family and friends would learn what had actually happened to her.

The Crown prosecutor took the court back to that cold night on March 2, 1996, when 15-year-old Miranda and 16-year-old James left Miranda's apartment telling her mum Jesse that they were going to the movies. It's not known if that was a lie or if their plans changed, but according to James Ward, the couple met up with an older friend who bought them some liquor from the bottle shop. The three then went to the pioneer inn, where James's aunt was reportedly staying. There, they proceeded to drink to excess and smoke cannabis. As the night went on, James and Miranda started fighting over who had more to drink.

Like most of their fights, this one was rowdy, physical and noisy, so much so that they were kicked off the premises. James and Miranda walked back to his house, continuing to fight along the way. They had to walk across a bridge to get home, and Miranda attempted to jump off the bridge in an effort to end her pain. James said he pulled her back. They eventually made it to James's house and went down to his bedroom in the basement, where the drunken fighting continued.

According to James, Miranda started bad-mouthing his family, including his grandmother, who James was close to. He said after about 20 minutes, he couldn't take it anymore. A switch was flipped and he grabbed Miranda around the throat. The next thing he knew, he came to on his bed and discovered he was on top of Miranda and that she was unconscious, but making noise. He said he choked her again. This happened two more times before she passed out for good.

When he woke up the next morning, he thought it all must have been a bad dream, but when he looked over and saw Miranda's body, he said he was shocked into reality. He smoked a cigarette and then tried to give Miranda CPR, but she was not coming back. This is the point where James called Miranda's mum Jesse and asked to speak to Miranda. When the police asked him why he called, he said he still thought he was having a bad dream. The crown prosecutor told the court that it was an attempt to cover his tracks. James then left Miranda's body on the bed and went on his 10-day bender.

This was during the time that the RCMP were looking for Miranda, so it should have been fairly easy to find her, lying on the bed of the abusive boyfriend she'd last been seen with. But no one looked. When James returned from Teslan, he went back to his basement bedroom and used the word wedged to describe how he got Miranda's body under his waterbed. The question everyone wanted to know was how did James get away with keeping Miranda's body in his basement bedroom for 15 months?

In his statement of facts, he said he began keeping his bedroom door locked at all times. He used a lot of air fresheners and kept all his windows open even in the middle of winter. But he also tried to stay out of that room. At one point, he slept upstairs until his father James Sr. told him he had to return to the basement. He said he mostly slept on a mattress on the floor, but sometimes he did sleep on the waterbed knowing that Miranda's body was underneath him. And there it would stay, completely undetected, until the prospect of having to move house

busted the whole thing wide open. This was the first time that the details of Miranda's death had been publicly heard. The first time that her family and friends learned what happened to her, and they were gutted and horrified to hear of James's complete and utter disrespect of her, both before and after she died. Because of the high public interest in the case, the courthouse was packed to the brim each day of the sentencing hearing. Throughout, James was observed slouching in his chair, wearing his blue jumpsuit staring

at his hands, rarely showing any emotion. His father did not attend, but his grandmother Hazel was there every day to support him. Before deciding on the sentence length, there was a lot of discussion about what facility would be best for James. He had face threats in jail, so his safety was a consideration. Another was the programs that were available to James at various facilities, including an eight-month violent offender program offered in BC that both the Crown and the Defence thought would be beneficial for him.

At this point, his father, James Ward Senior, attended court, but the only reason he showed up that day was because he'd been subpoenaed by the prosecution. They wanted his input as to what facility would be best for his son, but James Senior complained that he was forced to go to court. When asked for his opinion, he told the judge he didn't have much to say, adding that he had avoided all news reports on the case. He said it was difficult to know how to answer and he couldn't give an opinion because he didn't know the options of where James could be sent.

Judge Lillis remarked that he would have heard all the options had he attended the proceedings. James's dad simply replied with, I got nothing more to say, I guess, can I go? And then he walked out. The judge was quoted as saying, sometimes it is surprising in a courtroom where nothing is said how much it speaks. The crown referenced Miranda's family's disappointment in the downgraded charges from first-degree murder to manslaughter. The court heard that the decision was made because James was too drunk at the time he

killed Miranda to form specific intent. But they wanted the judge to give a sentence at the highest end of the range for a charge of manslaughter, which was three to five years because of James's behavior afterwards. Quote, he acted in character when killing Miranda Peter and continued to act that way after he killed her. James Ward continued to live, sleep and even entertain friends and potential love interests in his bedroom, knowing that Miranda's body was under the bed. The crown brought up the fact that during an interview with a psychologist, James said

he hardly thought about the body. All these factors demonstrated that James showed no remorse and had complete disrespect for Miranda's body. James's misuse of alcohol was also an issue, and the crown pointed out that James had already choked Miranda unconscious less than two months before actually killing her, and that didn't teach him a lesson to stop drinking or stop travelling on the path he was on. Quote, at some point a person must learn a lesson. The crown told Judge Lillis that a sentence of three to five years would take into account

James's youth, but also send a message that his crime was not acceptable. The defence wanted a sentence of three years for James, saying that his difficult childhood needed to be taken into account, and it was evident from James's seniors' appearance in court that James virtually had no reasonable parental supervision. Choking was the norm, James learned it from his father, and his early alcohol abuse was a symptom of his upbringing and should be viewed as being out of his control. James was not found to have had any psychological or personality disorders, but his father had also been totally uncooperative with doctors and psychologists, as they were trying to

gather information to write recommendations. The defence asked, where does James Ward learn how to behave, with not only women, but with other men? It is not normal, it is not one case of lashing out, it appears to be part of his norm. The court heard that it wasn't about shifting blame. James clearly had some serious problems, but no one had stepped in to do anything about it. Before the judge made his decision, there were victim impact statements.

Miranda's mother, Jesse Peter, clutched a single feather that appeared at her doorstep, as she told the court that she'd been raised not to cry, but that day she had no choice. I will always remember my daughter, I loved her very much, I prayed every day and night to find out what happened, and today I heard. Jesse said the trial had been very hard, but she knew Miranda was watching and guiding her through the whole time. I will remember her pretty smile, I'll miss celebrating her birthday. This feather gives me strength, it gives me courage to see that justice should be done

for my daughter, who I'll always remember in my dreams. Other relatives and community members from Ross River, where Miranda's family were from, asked the judge to consider sending James to jail for a long time, so they could heal as a family. One of Miranda's friends, a Ross River teenager whose identity was protected, asked the judge for justice for Miranda. She was a very strong person, she was happy all the time, she always had that smile on her face.

She touched everybody she met, and she didn't deserve what happened to her at all. Her life was cut short so fast, it is not fair, justice has to be served before it happens to anyone else. She spoke about what life is like for indigenous teenagers in the area. I know how it feels not knowing if you're going to see tomorrow. She said there were problems with early alcohol abuse and adults who don't care, after all it was them who buy the alcohol for the underage minors. And there was no one to talk about it, she said.

Judge Lillis was impressed by the teenager, telling the court that it took immense strength and courage to say what she did. Quote, you have sounded an alarm, it's not the first time it's been sounded, but you have run it again, maybe, just maybe, someone will pay attention. While James Ward's father didn't seem to care about the proceedings, his grandmother Hazel was a strong presence in his life. She reportedly attended every day and was observed to be crying at many points. She apologized to the family of Miranda Peter and to the Ross River community.

She said, I know they've gone through a hard time, a lot of pain. She added that her own brother was murdered a few years prior, so she knows some of the pain they were going through, but she believed James could be rehabilitated. Quote, I would like to apologize to them for the wrong that has been done to them and the community, but I don't believe sending a youth to the pen for 20 years will help at all. When Judge Lillis returned with his decision, he had much to say, not just about James Ward and Miranda Peter, but about what was going on in many Yukon communities.

He told the court that he knew many were angry with the manslaughter plea, but vengeance and anger does not equal justice. He felt the plea was appropriate given there was no premeditation or planning and James was severely intoxicated. Quote, Will a lengthy jail term alone deter James Ward? Not likely unless his severe alcohol problem and underlying issues are dealt with as well. Judge Lillis spoke about how James had been doing well at school until that pivotal year when he was in grade seven.

The year when his custody changed and he was sent to the US to live with his mother before being removed from her care and sent back. Early intervention for what must have been a traumatic year for him might have helped, but instead his attendance marks and behavior all crashed. The judge said these repeated patterns of truancy or not showing up for school is often an indication of sexual, physical or psychological abuse, which in turn can lead to alcohol and drug abuse. Quote, A meaningful investigation of James Ward's truancy at age 14 would most certainly

have revealed his excessive use of alcohol, his violent behavior and parental neglect. But there was none. The court heard that the fact that James was an acute alcoholic by age 15 was not the exception. His dad, his friends and Miranda were all heavy drinkers. End quote, What's worse is that there is no evidence of any effective intervention by family, community, school system, social services or the formal justice system. James never had trouble getting alcohol.

He and Miranda were drunk together several times a week even though they were only 15 and 16. And after Miranda's death, James was observed to be drunk almost daily. Judge Lill is questioned the effectiveness of a system that's supposed to control underage drinking when it's so easy for minors to access it. He then turned to the abuse James inflicted on Miranda, including the choking and how it was the same kind that James had witnessed and been subjected to himself. Quote, The family history in this case gives stark testimony to the intergenerational nature

of violence being passed down from one generation to another. The judge sentenced 18 year old James Joe Ward to four years in prison. The first 14 months would be spent in that federal penitentiary in British Columbia that had the eight month violent offender program. And after that, James was to return to a Yukon prison to be close to his grandmother Hazel and where he would continue taking part in anger management and alcohol abuse programs. The judge noted that Hazel had been a constant visitor since James's arrest and she remained a positive influence on him.

The judge seemed optimistic that if James were motivated to change, rehabilitation would be successful. Judge Lillis ended his statement with a call for an inquiry into the senseless deaths of young people in the territory. He said the inquiry should go beyond alcohol abuse and look at the underlying causes of it. He also wanted the inquiry to consider why there were no effective early interventions, not to allocate blame, but to better understand what can be done in the future to prevent

this happening again. Quote, we owe Miranda Peter at least that much. James kept his head and eyes down as the judge read his decision and didn't appear to be hearing anything the judge said. Occasionally he rubbed his hands together or clenched his jaw, but remained fairly still. He reportedly wrote an apology letter to Miranda's parents, which his lawyer said they waited to deliver after the sentence. They didn't want the letter to be seen as a ploy to receive a lighter sentence.

Regardless of that letter, Miranda's mother Jessie and her friends, family and community members from Ross River were not happy with the sentencing decision. Speaking through a friend, Jessie pointed out that Miranda's spirit was missing from the judgment, her name wasn't even mentioned in Judge Lillis' decision. Jessie said Miranda had a hard life too, but they were disappointed that none of that was touched on, and they also didn't like how Judge Lillis assessed the local community negatively without any mention of the good that had been done there. The decision was described as inappropriate and misguided, and they wanted it appealed.

But the prosecution declined. After all, they had asked for a sentence of three to five years, and James Ward got four, including around a year of pre-trial detention. The crown did not view the sentence as being below the acceptable range of sentence as established by law. When James had finished his stint in British Columbia, he asked to be kept there for the rest of his sentence for safety reasons. The decision was supported by his grandmother Hazel, who noted James had made progress and

obtained his GED or high school diploma. Judge Lillis noted that while James had finished his violent offender course, it had been recommended that he retake it, and he was not taking part in programs that required him to talk about what he did. Quote, I interpret it that he feels so bad and is so ashamed that he doesn't talk about it, but if he doesn't address it, it will be a festering sore. James Joe Ward was released from prison in December of 2000. Jesse Peter, Miranda's mother, told CBC News that his release brought up all those feelings

of anger again. Anger at how Miranda's murder was handled. Anger at the downgrading of charges and then the manslaughter plea deal. And anger that the RCMP insisted they were searching for Miranda, yet never found her when her body was hiding under her boyfriend's water bed in the house just down the street the whole time. Quote, To me, it seems they didn't look hard enough. Jesse said she knew nothing could change the fact that her daughter was gone, but she was

trying not to think about how Miranda died, but remember her best qualities instead. Just 18 months after James Ward was released from prison, the 22-year-old was back in jail for assaulting his pregnant girlfriend. A no-contact order was put in place, but both he and his girlfriend tried to have it dropped. They were unsuccessful. In the days that followed, the RCMP received a strange call about a bleeding woman walking towards a local inn. They arrived quickly and followed her in to one of the hotel rooms, where they found

a man lying on the bed. It's not known why the woman was bleeding, but the man gave police an obviously false name, and it was only when he was threatened with an obstruction charge that he coughed up his real name. He was James Joe Ward. This ran the name and discovered the no-contact order. He'd been charged with assault on his girlfriend and wasn't supposed to be in contact with her, but she had just walked into his room.

James was arrested and spent another five days in jail. His lawyer argued that he'd been misled by a mutual friend, and he didn't know that she was going to be coming into his room. That was the first time that he'd seen her. The original criminal charge against James was dropped five months later. By this time, his girlfriend had given birth to their child and had softened her story about what happened, leading the crown to determine there was no chance of convicting James for assault, based on the evidence.

James Ward was sentenced to six months probation for parole violations, and although the court couldn't order him to take a domestic violence program specifically because that charge had been dropped, he was ordered to treatment programs as directed by his probation officer. His lawyer said that he would attend domestic violence programs voluntarily. That was 2002. Over the next five years, James stayed out of trouble. He fathered two more children and ended up raising all three of his children on his own for unknown reasons.

He was employed full-time and working towards plumbing and carpentry qualifications. But things took a turn when his father, James Ward Sr., died by suicide in 2007. A headstone ceremony was arranged and the family gathered there to commemorate James Sr., but many of them were drinking and the situation quickly devolved. James, then 30 years old, reportedly became angry about what court documents referred to as a historical incident involving a past girlfriend. It's not known if this was about Miranda or someone else, but James threw his cousin down and punched him in the face several times, splitting his lip.

Then, James went to his go-to move. He put both his hands around his cousin's throat and squeezed. Because James was extremely intoxicated, the cousin was able to get away and ran upstairs to where his girlfriend was sleeping. But James followed him and began punching and choking him again and then reportedly cornered the girlfriend and threatened to rape her. The pair were able to escape again and the girlfriend would state that she was extremely frightened during the event and continued to be afraid of James Ward afterwards.

James pleaded guilty to the attack, although he said he was so drunk that he didn't remember any of it. In sentencing, Judge Karen Ruddy described James as a very bright young man, who at the time of the incident was having significant difficulty coming to terms with his father's suicide. The judge spoke about how James was a long-time single parent raising three kids on his own, aged 2, 4 and 6 at the time. And despite his own rough childhood, he was, quote, universally described as being a good

father and someone who cares very deeply for his children. There was a great deal of stability in his life, his grandmother was still a positive influence and it appeared he was coming to terms with his unresolved issues and dealing with them in a more positive and appropriate manner. Judge Ruddy said it was very clear to her that James Joe Ward was extremely remorseful for what happened. Quote, he appears to harbour a fair amount of guilt and shame and has taken full responsibility for his actions and appears to fully recognise and accept the negative impact that his behaviour

has had on the family as a whole. With that, Judge Karen Ruddy sentenced James to six months of strict house arrest, where he was basically only allowed to go to work and drive his kids to daycare and school. Ruddy felt the sentence was too lenient. This is the last of the information that's publicly available on James Joe Ward. As for Miranda Shelley Peter, her disappearance didn't get the care and attention that it deserved, but her story would finally be heard through the eerily similar stories of many others like her.

A 2014 report by the RCMP found that more than 1,000 Indigenous women and girls were murdered over a span of 30 years, but no one can say for sure how many because of insufficient or inconsistent record keeping. Some have estimated it to be around 4,000 and the rate they're murdered is almost six times higher than non-Indigenous women and girls. In 2016, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was initiated, which included two-spirit and LGBTQIA-plus people. The report described it as a Canadian genocide, a national crisis and included calls for justice

to address major issues that Indigenous people still face today, like access to employment, clean drinking water, housing, education, safety and health care. When it comes to addressing the problem of violence against Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQIA-plus folks, the report called for major reforms to the justice system and policing to ensure these cases are addressed more seriously. The RCMP publicly supported the inquiry and issued a statement saying they're committed to achieving reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and had already begun making changes to their policies, procedures and training.

A year after the report was published, CBC News surveyed law enforcement agencies to see what progress had been made and reported that police responses to its findings had been uneven and work to create national standards remained aspirational. Change like this takes time, but not much had been done so far. The RCMP were quoted in the article as saying that it was consulting with Indigenous academics and advocates over how it handles cases and had mandated cultural awareness training for all cadets. They were learning not to do things like use the mugshot of a missing Indigenous person

if they have another photo available and are now filling out a more detailed form on the missing person with more categories for describing them in an effort to achieve more uniformity in the information collected and distributed. The Toronto Star hired experts to critique the RCMP's Cultural Awareness Training Programme, an online course called Cultural Awareness and Humility. In February of 2021, Douglas Kwan reported that the course missed the mark on many levels. Experts reviewed the programme and remarked that it only took two to three hours to complete. Criticism includes the lack of content addressing institutionalised racism, particularly anti-Indigenous

and anti-Black racism. There's only three paragraphs that address the RCMP's role in colonisation and other information was either excessively simplified or contained outdated or confusing terminology. In Ike Samuels-Wartley, a professor at Coulton University's Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice was quoted as saying the course does not increase accountability. Quote, A participant is simply given a certificate without needing to demonstrate real change. In response, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucky said she was disappointed to hear the criticism

but noted that the course is just one component of the force's cultural learning strategy and was not designed to single-handedly address systemic issues in the organisation. There is still a long way to go. Thanks for listening and please stay tuned for a bonus chat about this case with Indigenous journalist Danielle Paradis where we'll also be talking about the first national day of truth and reconciliation and more about Indigenous history. Intergenerational trauma does not just disappear, it continues down a family line until there is healing and the chain is broken.

For more information on this and resources for those who need help, please see the show notes or visit the page for this episode at canadiantruecrime.ca. A special thanks to Hailey Gray for researching this case. As well as court documents and news archives, this episode relied on the journalism of Kathleen Goldheart and Carolyn Murray for the White Horse Daily Star. Canadian True Crime donates regularly to Canadian organisations that help victims and survivors of injustice. This month we have donated to True North Aid, who serve and support Northern Indigenous

communities in Canada through practical humanitarian support like clean drinking water, food, health housing and more. You can learn more at TrueNorthAid.ca Well that's it for this week, thank you so much for your kind ratings, reviews, messages and support. Thanks also to the host of True for voicing the disclaimer and We Talk of Dreams, who compose the theme song. I'll be back soon with a new Canadian True Crime story.

See you then. .