How one family’s tragedy forced Canada to close a loophole — and why it matters in 2025

The night that still haunts Medicine Hat, Alberta, was April 23, 2006.

A quiet spring evening in Medicine Hat, Marc Richardson, 42, and his wife Debra, 48, were stabbed to death in their basement. Their eight-year-old son, Tyler Jacob, was found upstairs—stabbed once in the chest. Court records later revealed his final words: “I’m scared. Please don’t.”

The killers? Their 12-year-old daughter, Jasmine, and her 23-year-old boyfriend, Jeremy Steinke. The couple fled 300 km east to Leader, Saskatchewan, where they were arrested two days later in Steinke’s pickup truck.

The name that changed everything was Jeremy Allan Steinke, who was sentenced to three life terms in 2008. Jasmine Richardson received the maximum youth sentence—10 years—and was released under a new identity in 2016.

Steinke, however, wanted the same erasure. Around 2017, while incarcerated in British Columbia, he legally changed his name to Jackson May.

No public notice. No victim input. No cross-province coordination. The Richardson family learned about it through a prison newsletter. “It’s like they killed him again.”
— Extended family member, speaking to media in 2018

The law wasn’t there before 2025, as Canada had no federal ban on name changes for murderers. Sex offenders? Yes—federally barred under the Criminal Records Act. Killers? Nothing. Offenders could relocate provinces, file paperwork, and vanish legally. Steinke’s case exposed the gap:

Convicted in Alberta

Incarcerated in BC

Name changed quietly

Saskatchewan (where he was arrested) had zero say

Saskatchewan says “Enough” in late 2024, when Saskatchewan tabled Bill 144—an expansion of the Name Change Act. Effective early 2025, the new rules are:

How It Works

Every name-change application triggers a mandatory RCMP criminal record check.
Vital Statistics cross-references with federal parole and corrections databases.
Victims’ families get notification and objection rights. Changes approved outside Saskatchewan are not recognized for provincial residents.

Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre: “Names carry history. Victims deserve continuity in justice.”

The Bigger Picture

National Ripple

Alberta is drafting similar legislation. Ontario’s Attorney General called it “a model worth studying.” Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani has signaled openness to Criminal Code amendments.

What This Means for You If you live in Saskatchewan:

Your name-change application will be flagged if you have a violent conviction. If you’re a victim’s family, you now have 30 days to object in writing. If you’re an offender, the past follows you, that’s the point.