Crown stays manslaughter charge in murder of Megan Gallagher

Another trial in connection to the death of Saskatoon woman Megan Gallagher has been abruptly cancelled.

Court of Kings Bench confirmed Thursday that manslaughter and unlawful confinement charges were stayed against 45-year-old Thomas Sutherland whose trial was scheduled to begin April 28.

The Métis mother was last seen in Saskatoon in 2020 on video surveillance at a convenience store on Diefenbaker Drive.

Megan Gallagher. (Facebook)

Two years later her remains were found along the South Saskatchewan River near the community of St. Louis.

The stay of proceedings comes just weeks after Sutherland was re-elected to be tried by a judge alone trial.

Thomas was one of nine people originally arrested in the Gallagher investigation.

Roderick Sutherland, 47, is the last remaining accused still before the courts. His first-degree murder trial in Saskatoon is scheduled to begin Oct. 6.

Megan’s father in ‘disbelief with the justice system’

Megan’s father, Brian Gallagher was shocked to hear the judge stay the charges against Thomas.

“We were frustrated for sure,” he said.

“We were definitely disappointed, angry and a little bit of disbelief with the justice system with the action that’s been taken.”

Brian Gallagher, Megan’s dad said the sentence “is not okay” and calls for more to be done within the justice system. Feb. 6, 2025 (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

Brian added the family was hoping for a trial.

“One of the things we’d like to see is for the thing to go to trial, so people would have the chance to hear what’s happening,” he said.

“It’s just another layer of the silence that’s killing us.”

With the charges stayed Brian said he is concerned about how the Roderick case could end up.

“We’re worried,” he said. “This one as well as the low sentences given to the two girls. It’s first-degree murder, how do you get away with that?”

In a previous interview, Brian said the family will never get “closure.”

“The worst part about it is Megan will never come home. We will never see Megan again. We’ll never experience any of the things that Megan used to bring to our life that brought us all kinds of emotions.

“She was a special young lady with many, many gifts,” he said.

Two suspects plead guilty to lesser charge of manslaughter

The judge-alone first-degree murder trial for 31-year-old Cheyann Crystal Peeteetuce and 26-year-old Summer-Sky Henry was set for 39 days but was cut short when they pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Both women were handed seven-year jail sentences for their involvement in Gallagher’s death.

Summer-Sky Henry pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in the first degree murder trial of Megan Gallagher on Jan. 16, 2025. (Saskatoon Police Service/Submitted)

With time already served, Peeteetuce has almost six years left in federal prison, and Henry just over five.

The sentence handed by Justice Mona Dovell came from a joint submission made by both the Crown and Defence.

“We’re not OK… this is not OK,” Brian Gallagher, Megan’s father, said outside of the courthouse, following the decision in February.

Brian, surrounded by friends and family, expressed disappointment in the decision.

“The people that have perpetrated this, I think they are laughing at the justice system,” he said to reporters.

He had first described the news of the guilty plea back in January as a “kick in the gut.”

Peeteetuce and Henry are also prohibited from owning weapons and must follow no-contact orders.

In December 2024, 29-year-old Robert James Joseph Thomas was sentenced to life in prison for the second-degree murder of Gallagher.

Thomas will not be eligible for parole for 18 years. Because several other people charged in the case are still awaiting their trials, an extensive publication ban was imposed on the details of the sentencing hearing, including the victim impact statements.

— with files from 650 CKOM’s Mia Holowaychuk, Lara Fominoff and Shane Clausing