ROBERT SANDERSON’S CONVICTIONS FOR FIRST DEGREE MURDER QUASHED 29 YEARS AFTER THREE HOMICIDES THAT OCCURRED IN 1996
ROBERT SANDERSON’S CONVICTIONS FOR FIRST DEGREE MURDER QUASHED 29 YEARS AFTER THREE HOMICIDES THAT OCCURRED IN 1996
Robert Sanderson’s convictions for three counts of First-Degree Murder were quashed by the Manitoba Court of Appeal, who ordered a new trial. The Crown has advised the Court of Appeal that it will exercise its discretion and enter a stay of the proceedings on public interest grounds. It is anticipated that this could occur as soon as later today (May 30 2025).
On August 6, 1996, three men, Stefan Zurstegge, Thomas Krowetz and Jason Gross were found murdered in Mr. Krowetz’s home. It was the Crown theory that Mr. Krowetz and Mr. Zurstegge were members of the Red Liners gang and were being courted by the Hells Angels and were murdered by members of the Manitoba Warriors, a gang of which Mr. Sanderson was alleged to be a member.
On September 19, 1996, Mr. Sanderson and two other men were charged with the murders. On June 26, 1997, Mr. Sanderson and one of his co-accused were convicted of the murders and both lost their subsequent appeals.
In 2017, Innocence Canada submitted an application to the Minister of Justice for ministerial review of his convictions based on new evidence. On February 10, 2023, Justice Minister David Lametti found that there was a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred, and referred Mr. Sanderson’s case to the Manitoba Court of Appeal for a new appeal.
Today, with the agreement of the prosecution, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions.
The new evidence came in two forms:
- A crown expert testified that hair seized from the leg of one of the deceased was “more likely” from Mr. Sanderson. The Crown used this testimony to suggest that Mr. Sanderson “left a piece of himself at the scene of the crime.” Post-conviction DNA testing has established that the hair, as the Court of Appeal puts in their decision today, it “did not and could not have come from Mr. Sanderson.”
- An eyewitness to events before the homicides who linked Mr. Sanderson to them was given substantial sums of money by the authorities pursuant to an agreement after he testified at the trial, totalling more than $15,000.00. This was not disclosed to Mr. Sanderson and the prosecution could not explain why it was not disclosed.
Mr. Sanderson’s mother was Ojibway and he is a member of the Métis Nations. Since his arrest and imprisonment in 1996, he was to become a well-known Aboriginal artist, and his Indigenous artwork includes wood carvings, masks and traditional paintings of extraordinary beauty. He was released on parole in 2021 and now lives in western Canada. As the Court of Appeal said in its decision:
“Mr. Sanderson is self-employed as an Indigenous artist with a considerable reputation and has maintained a stable relationship and has positive support in the community.”
Innocence Canada counsel Jerome Kennedy and James Lockyer said today:
“We are grateful to Minister Lametti and the Manitoba Court of Appeal for their decisions in Mr. Sanderson’s case. We spoke to Mr. Sanderson this morning and he is delighted that his case is almost over. It has, he said, been a long time coming.”
For further information, please contact:
Jerome Kennedy at 709-725-2966 or jkennedy@makethecall.ca
James Lockyer at 416-518-7983 or jlockyer@lzzdefence.ca