The Crown and defence in the Ryan Lane murder trial have begun their closing arguments inside a Calgary courtroom on Monday.
Sheena Cuthill-Rempel, her husband Tim Rempel and his brother Will are all charged with first degree murder in connection with Lane’s death.
The Crown says all three of the accused carried out the crime at the request of Cuthill, who was in a bitter custody dispute with Lane over their daughter.
Last week, Tim Rempel told the court that he asked his wife for permission to speak to Lane in an attempt to resolve the dispute and allow him to be able to legally adopt Cuthill’s daughter.
He told the court that he had his brother’s help to speak to Lane because he didn’t believe that he would speak to him alone.
On the night Lane disappeared, Rempel told the court that he and his brother drove Lane to a secluded rural area and showed him family photos, telling him of the life Tim and Sheena had together.
He said that Lane became emotional and shoved him. Rempel responded by striking him with ‘quite a bit of force’.
Rempel said he then left with his brother a short time later, but Lane was alive.
Lane, 24, was last seen in the early morning hours of February 7, 2012, near the 5200 block of Country Hills Boulevard N.W.
His remains weren’t found until several months later during a police search of a rural property near Beiseker.
(With files from Ina Sidhu)
