Woman sentenced for role in Saskatchewan Mountie's death

A woman has received a sentence of more than two years for her role in the death of a Saskatchewan RCMP officer.

Const. Shelby Patton, who was 26, was run over and killed in 2021, after pulling over a suspected stolen truck in the town of Wolseley, east of Regina.

Marlene Velma Louise Pagee received an 821-day sentence this week in Regina provincial court for four offences, including accessory after the fact to manslaughter and theft of a vehicle.

Court says the sentence amounts to time-served, because of how long the 45-year-old spent in remand following her arrest.

Last month, the driver of the truck, Alphonse Stanley Traverse of Winnipeg, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

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Court heard Patton asked Traverse to get out of a truck, but the Mountie fell when the vehicle jerked forward and was run over by a rear tire.

During Traverse's February sentencing, court heard he and Pagee had decided to drive from Winnipeg to play video lottery terminals in Saskatchewan, as bars in Manitoba were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When their truck broke down, they stole another near Pipestone, Man.

They had been using crystal meth, an agreed statement of facts said.

When Patton pulled over the truck, he asked Traverse to get out. The officer stepped on the running board to seize the keys, but Traverse started the vehicle to drive away.

The movement caused Patton to fall, and he was run over.

The officer's mother, Melanie Patton, told court the loss of her only son has left a void that cannot be filled.

RCMP have said Patton had been a Mountie for six years and four months at the time of his death. He worked most of that time out of the Indian Head detachment, where he cultivated a reputation as a hardworking, dedicated police officer.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2024.