Crossroads Staff

A judge in Saskatoon last week pronounced Joseph David Caissie guilty of murdering Carol King near Herschel more than seven years ago.

A media report on Friday morning said the judge found Caissie guilty of first-degree murder in the death of King, a Newfoundland native who lived north of Herschel. She vanished on Aug. 6, 2011. Her body was found in an abandoned farm yard on Aug. 27. Police questioned Caissie later but didn’t charge him until July 2016.

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Judge Richard Danyliuk conducted the Court of Queen’s Bench trial without a jury in late September. Judge Danyliuk heard recordings of Caissie, 55, of Bluffton, Alta., in which he revealed details of killing King, his former girlfriend, who was 40 when she died.

A police officer secretly taped the accused as part of a Mr. Big sting and the judge had to decide on accepting the recordings as evidence.

A search for King began after she didn’t show up for a scheduled meeting with RCMP in Rosetown to inform them about harassment incidents.

A former Herschel resident found her body in the yard formerly owned by his family, about five miles east of King’s home. Close to 50 people had searched the region. Police found King’s vehicle in a reservoir about 2.5 kilometres east of her home on Aug. 12, after an air search.

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