"None of this was my idea," Sheena Cuthill takes stand in murder trial

Murder victim's ex-girlfriend takes stand Sheena Cuthill, accused of orchestrating a plan to kill Ryan Lane, denied any involvement in Lane’s murder. Ina Sidhu reports

Sheena Cuthill, the former partner of Ryan Lane, took to the stand in her own defence on Friday in the first-degree murder trial.

Cuthill, her husband Timothy Mark Rempel and her brother-in-law Wilhelm Klassen Rempel are all on trial in connection with the 2012 death of Ryan Lane.

According to the Crown, Cuthill was the ‘puppeteer’ behind the young father’s death, but her lawyer, Alain Hepner, says that wasn’t the case.

On Friday, Cuthill told the court she met Lane, a friend of her brother's, in 2006 and admitted to buying drugs from him. The pair started dating a short time later and produced a child in 2007.

The relationship ended roughly three months after the birth because Cuthill said she was fed up with Lane’s lifestyle. She told the court that he wasn’t spending enough time with their daughter.

A text message from Cuthill to her mother stating 'in all of ur life time with bikers u hung out with...did u ever make pple dissapear?" was addressed on Friday afternoon. The 30-year-old explained the disappearance mentioned in the message was an attempt to have people walk away from her life, to have them pack their bags and leave.

When asked if she ever discussed plans to murder Ryan Lane, Cuthill said "None of this was my idea".

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.

Police have said that the group accused in Lane’s murder was at odds with him over a custody battle involving a child that Cuthill had with Lane. The trio has all pleaded not guilty in connection with Lane’s murder.

The trial is expected to wrap next week.

(With files from Ina Sidhu)