Woman gets six years in prison for kidnapping in grisly slaying

Article content

A woman initially charged with first-degree murder in the death of a Windsor man who was  shot, dismembered and burned on Walpole Island in 2021 was sentenced Tuesday to six years behind bars for kidnapping.

Saccara Johnson, 31, from Windsor was among eight people arrested by provincial police between August 2021 and March 2022, with six of them being charged with murder. Four of them previously took plea deals and two others were cleared of their charges, leaving just Johnson and Jahton Blair, 40, from Scarborough, heading to trial in front of a jury in Sarnia earlier this fall.

Article content

But on the eve of the two-month homicide trial Johnson pleaded guilty to kidnapping – the trial was later postponed – and her case was adjourned to get a pre-sentence report.

“Kidnapping is a very serious crime,” Superior Court Justice Russell Raikes told her Tuesday while imposing the six-year sentence suggested by the prosecutor and her lawyer.

Johnson, who appeared emotional when she was first brought handcuffed into the Sarnia courtroom, told the judge she takes full responsibility for her actions.

“If I could contact Bode’s family, I would sincerely apologize to them,” said Johnson, who is banned from speaking to them.

Oyebode Oyenuga, a 25-year-old Windsor university student who was struggling with a substance-abuse issue, met Johnson at a bar and the rest of the group through the Windsor drug subculture. He fought one of them in a fit of jealousy over Johnson on Feb. 2, 2021, and drew blood, prompting the group to want to teach him a lesson, the court has heard.

While passed out on drugs later that night, Johnson picked up Oyenuga at his home and drove him in his white 2015 BMW to the First Nation between Sarnia and Chatham while a second car followed.

Article content

Article content

In the early-morning hours of Feb. 3, 2021, he was shot and killed by someone else near Pump House Road.

His body was dismembered, put in garbage bags and tossed in the area of Dynamite Cut Road, about two to three kilometres from the shooting scene, and his BMW was driven to a covered parking garage in Kitchener and wiped down, the court has heard.

His remains were discovered about six weeks later on March 17, 2021.

Johnson, who initially lied to police about her involvement, was among the first of the eight to be arrested in August 2021 and has been in jail since then.

With extra credit for her pre-plea custody, she has just one year left to serve. But, as part of her deal with the Crown, she also agreed to testify at Blair’s upcoming trial, which has been pushed back to February 2026.

To ensure her co-operation, police recorded a sworn statement Tuesday prior to her case wrapping up that can be played during the trial as evidence even if she recants it.

Factored into the six-year sentence was her difficult upbringing that featured foster care, homelessness and being trafficked at a young age. She is also Indigenous and has family who went to the Canadian residential school system.

Article content

Raikes told her she’s lived a life no one would envy, but she also has plenty of runway in front of her.

“Where you go from here is entirely up to you,” he said. “This doesn’t have to be who you are.”

But the judge also pointed out Oyenuga was unconscious, completely vulnerable and at her mercy that night, even if she didn’t know he would be killed.

“You had to know that nothing good was going to come from bringing him there,” he said.

Oyenuga’s family, who first reported him missing to Windsor police three days after he died, hasn’t filed a victim-impact statement for any of the plea deals to date.

“I can tell you this has had a monumental effect on the family members of Mr. Oyenuga,” David Rows, Lambton’s former Crown attorney, who is still prosecuting the case, told the judge.

Johnson is banned from talking to any of Oyenuga’s family members and all of her co-accused while in jail or on probation for the following three years.

Rolf Agard, a 34-year-old man with ties to Windsor and Mississauga, and the person Oyenuga cut during the fight over Johnson, previously pleaded guilty to kidnapping and manslaughter and got 12 years in prison. Dejour Millington, 25, of Toronto was handed a 20-month jail sentence for a guilty plea to offering an indignity to human remains.

Zy’Shaun Lawrence, 20, from Kitchener pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder and was sentenced to nine months in jail. Drew Bliss, 39, of Chatham-Kent pleaded guilty to trafficking a firearm and was sent to prison for five years.

Bliss illegally traded a Springfield XD-9 handgun to one of the suspects for drugs at some point between Jan. 21 and Feb. 3, 2021. He falsely reported a break-in at his parents’ property three days after Oyenuga was killed.

tbridge@postmedia.com

Article content