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ALBERTA, Canada - A 13-year-old Canadian, angry over being grounded, plotted with her adult boyfriend to murder her family, and stabbed her little brother herself during the killing spree, the prosecutor in the case said on Friday.
The girl, 12 at the time of the killings, faces three
counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of her parents and eight-year-old brother last year in the small city of Medicine Hat, Alberta, a grisly crime that shocked the country.
The defence and prosecution made their closing arguments for the jury, which is expected to begin deliberations on Monday.
Her lawyer contended the girl never believed her family would be slain by boyfriend Jeremy Steinke, then 23, who had been known to tell friends he was a werewolf. The girl cannot be identified under Canadian law because of her age.
But prosecutor Stephanie Cleary said the girl's testimony - that her assertions to friends that she wanted her family dead were just idle "venting" - was false.
"It cannot raise a reasonable doubt in your mind about her guilt. It makes no sense," Cleary said.
"The reason her tale doesn't make sense is not because she's 12, not because she was involved with Jeremy, but because it's not true."
The girl's father, 42, mother, 48, and brother were discovered stabbed to death in the family home in April 2006.
A day later, the girl and Steinke were found sleeping in a truck parked in a small town in the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan. With them were a bag of bloodstained clothing, knives and a purse belonging to the pre-teen's mother.
Steinke's murder trial date has yet to be set.
Testimony in the month-long case was often gruesome and heart-rending, including details of how the little brother begged for his life.
The girl told the court Steinke broke into the home, attacked her parents and then ordered her to stab the boy. His body was found in his room among blood-soaked toys.
Her parents' bodies were found in the basement, stabbed dozens of times.
Steinke left the girl at the scene.
Prosecutors said she hatched the plot after her mother and father grounded her and blocked access to a computer she had been using to communicate with Steinke.
Defence Lawyer Tim Foster said evidence showed the girl did not plan the killings. He said Steinke had to break into the home, there was no escape plan and the duo stayed around Medicine Hat for almost a day afterward.
The girl had testified that she met up with Steinke hours after the deed and had sex with him.
Her actions showed she was in a state of panic and looking to cling to the last person in her life, Foster said.
"In these circumstances, don't you think she needed a hug, someone to comfort her and tell her everything would be OK?" he said.
- REUTERS
