The Ryan Lane murder trial continues as the co-accused Rempel brothers deny knowing or meeting Lane during the initial questioning from police.
“I don’t know Ryan. I’ve never met him,” accused murderer Tim Rempel told Calgary Police Service (CPS) members from the missing person unit on Feb. 9, 2012.
The recording was played for the judge and jury in the Calgary courthouse on March 21 as part of the evidence against the co-accused Rempel brothers Tim and Wilhelm, and the mother of Lane’s child, Sheena Cuthill – all charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in connection with Lane’s death.
“Who is Ryan Lane, anyhow,” Wilhelm asked homicide detectives during initial questioning in February 2012. In the recording played for the judge and jury on March 22, Wilhelm denied knowing Lane and said he had never actually heard his name before the detectives brought it up.
As previously reported by the Eagle, Lane, originally from Cochrane, was reported missing early February 2012 after a visit with his daughter – the first time Lane saw her in two years - at a Chuck E. Cheese’s in Calgary. Lane was reported missing after going to meet up with a person who allegedly called from a payphone promising a way for Lane to have more visiting access to his daughter.
Lane met up with a person in a red pickup truck on Feb. 6, 2012 in a northwest parking lot, according to earlier testimony from Lane’s father, Bruce Lane.
On March 21, a forensic expert told the judge and jury the DNA that was found on the ceiling of the truck was a match to Lane’s DNA. Lane’s DNA was also found in Tim Rempel’s Jeep, the court heard.
Security footage of a man washing the truck in question the day after the Lane’s disappearance was shown in court on March 17. Homicide Det. Kurt Jacobs attempted to identify the man in the video as one of the Rempel brothers because of appearance, glasses and noticeable limp – but admitted under cross-examination that the facial features in the video are unrecognizable.
The truck was later sold to a scrap yard in Calgary on Feb. 8.
The Rempel brothers gave conflicting statement to CPS. Tim told CPS that Wilhelm and himself went out for coffee in Airdrie on the night of Lane’s disappearance – while Wilhelm told CPS that he was out for coffee with his estranged wife in the evening.
“I don’t know… I’ve never met the guy. I don’t know a single thing about him,” Tim said in the Feb. 9, 2012 statement to CPS.
Lane and Cuthill had spilt shortly after the birth of their daughter – in November 2011, Lane was served with a notice that Cuthill was seeking sole custody. Between November 2011 and February 2012, the issue was being handled in family law court.
Calgary Police Services searched for Lane for nine months before a break in the case. Remains were found completely burnt in a burn barrel in a remote rural area near Beiseker in November 2012. Due to the severity, the remains could only be identified as a “young adult human” but a piece of Lane’s cell phone was found, along with his class ring.
Cuthill and the Rempel brothers were arrested and charged in November 2012.
This is the second week in six-week murder trial for Ryan Lane.
