Jasmine Richardson and Jeremy Steinke’s Dark True Story

By: Alyssa Miller | Published: Feb 06, 2024

It is always shocking when a child becomes a family annihilator. It is a rare act of violence that we don’t often see. In Canada, the youngest person who was ever charged with multiple counts of murder was 12 years old at the time of the crime.

The Richardson family murders were a result of a murder at the hands of then 12-year-old Jasmine Richardson and her then 23-year-old boyfriend, Jeremy Steinke. Why did they do this? Let’s get into it.

The Death of the Richardson Family

On April 23, 2006, in Medicine Hat, Canada, the Richardson family was discovered in their home by a 6-year-old boy, a friend of Jasmine’s 8-year-old brother, Tyler Richardson. The boy told his mother that he thought he saw a body through the window, according to The Globe and Mail. The mother quickly called the police.

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A crime scene at a house

Source: Mark's Postcards from Beloit/Flickr

Inspector Brent Secondiak arrived at the house and discovered that parents Marc Richardson, Debra Richardson, and Tyler had all been brutally murdered. Jasmine was missing from the scene.

How Did the Richardson Family Die? 

The police discovered that Debra was killed first. She was stabbed at least a dozen times. Marc fought back with a screwdriver but was eventually stabbed to death. Both bodies were discovered in the basement. Upstairs, Jasmine’s little brother had his throat slashed in his bed.

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Blue police lights mounted on top of a police car

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Jasmine was feared to be a victim, too, and police sent out an Amber Alert for the young girl. However, evidence in her room and locker made investigators realize that she was the prime suspect in her family’s murder.

Where Was Jasmine Richardson? 

A trail of digital evidence between Jasmine and an older man named Jeremy, mainly consisting of emails exchanged between the two, led investigators to find the two in the community of Leader, Saskatchewan, about 81 miles (130 kilometers) away from the house.

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Crime Scene Do Not Cross Signage

Source: Kat Wilcox

The two were arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder. On May 3, 2006, Steinke’s friend Kacy Lancaster, who was 19 years old, was charged as an accessory for driving the two in her pickup truck later in the day and helping dispose of evidence.

How Did Jasmine Richardson and Jeremy Steinke Meet? 

Jasmine and Jeremy met at a punk rock show. Before the two met, Jasmine was described as a happy and social girl. However, the 11-year-old’s personality started to change after she started seeing the 23-year-old Jeremy. Jasmine immediately became enamored with him and the goth lifestyle.

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A young head shot of Jasmine Richardson

Source: maia/YouTube

Jasmine started to wear dark makeup to make herself look older and became a member of VampireFreaks.com.

Richardson Family Disapproved of the Relationship

After discovering that Jasmine was dating a 23-year-old who wore a vial of blood around his neck and claimed to be a “300-year-old werewolf,” Marc and Debra prohibited their daughter from seeing Jeremy.

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All four members of the Richardson family

Source: Under The Ash Tree/YouTube

The couple became furious that they were forbidden to be in love, and began to create a plan to take the Richardson family out of the picture.

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The Couple Begins Scheming 

Jeremy wrote on his blog on April 3, 2006, “Payment! My Lover’s rents are totally unfair; they say that they really care; they don’t know what is going on. They just assume … Their throats I want to slit … Finally there shall be silence. Their blood shall be payment!”

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Jasmine and Jeremy is side-by-side photos

Source: Under The Ash Tree/YouTube

According to police reports, Jasmine was the first to propose the plan. In an email, she wrote, “It begins with me killing them and ends with me living with you” (via The Crime Wire). Jeremy approved of the plan.

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The Night Before

The night before the murders, the couple watched Oliver Stone’s 1994 film “Natural Born Killers.” The next day, the couple went to Jasmine’s family home to follow through with the family murders.

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Man Holding Remote Control

Source: JESHOOTS.com/Pexels

During the trial, Jasmine explained why she and Jeremy killed her little brother. The goth family annihilator reasoned that it would have been cruel to leave him alive without his parents.

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The Motive Behind the Richardson Family Murders

Two hours later, a witness spotted the couple laughing and kissing at a nearby restaurant. One witness recounted Jeremy saying that the victims had been “gutted like fish.” The two were later arrested.

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A teddy bear in a yard

Source: Under The Ash Tree/YouTube

At trial, when she was asked why they murdered her parents and little brother, Jasmine said: “I loved him so much. I thought it would bring us closer together.”

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What Happened to Jasmine Richardson

In June 2007, 14-year-old Jasmine went on trial and pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. Identified as J.R. because of her age, she said she had  “hypothetical” conversations about killing her family, but didn’t intend on ever going through with it.

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12 year old stabs brother sentence

Source: WHIO/YouTube

In July, the jury came back with a verdict after three hours of deliberation for the 12-year-old who stabbed her brother: guilty on all three counts.

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How Long Was Jasmine Richardson's Sentencing?

Jasmine was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, the maximum sentence allowed by the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The act states that any convicts who were under the age of 14 at the time they committed the crime cannot be charged as adults and can be given a maximum sentence of 10 years.

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Kingston Ontario woman's prision

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Jasmine’s sentence included 18 months time served, four years to be spent in a psychiatric facility, followed by 4.5 years under conditional supervision in the community.

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What Happened to Jeremy Steinke?

Despite the testimony of his terminally ill mother Jacqueline May, which highlighted Jeremy’s rough childhood and his history of self-harm, Jeremy was found guilty of all three murders. Jeremy, who was 25 at the time of the conviction, was given three life sentences.

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A portrait photo of Jeremy Steinke

Source: maia/YouTube

Jeremy and Jasmine stayed in contact through letters during their imprisonment. While the letters did not express guilt or remorse, they did talk about marriage.

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Jasmine Richardson and Jeremy Steinke Now

After undergoing extensive rehabilitation and treatment, Jasmine Richardson now is freed from the prison. It was discovered through psychiatric assessment that Jasmine had a conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. Jasmine Richardson today is now living in an undisclosed part of Canada, presumably under an assumed name.

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Jasmine RIchardson and Jeremy Steinke in a side-by-side photo

Source: Under The Ash Tree/YouTube

Jeremy Steinke today goes by the name Jackson May and has not done anything to appeal his case since 2011, according to Murderpedia. Jeremy will be eligible for parole after 25 years — meaning somewhere around the year 2033.

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