A Creston man has been jailed indefinitely after a gruesome attack on an acquaintance in 2015.
Nathaniel Jessup, 36, was sentenced Nov. 12 on one charge each of manslaughter and interfering with human remains.
On Aug. 15, 2015, he attacked and killed Katherine McAdam, 59, inside her rented home on Cedar Street. Jessup, who was 28 at the time, was homeless that summer and had a casual but friendly relationship with McAdam.
Her dismembered remains were found by police 12 days later, in a bike trailer on an acreage in the nearby community of Erickson.
Weeks later, Jessup was arrested in the Lower Mainland when he separately attempted to abduct two young girls. He has been in custody ever since.
In the McAdam’s case, he was originally charged with second-degree murder. Two years ago, at trial in Kamloops, he was instead found guilty of manslaughter.
On Nov. 12, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Dennis Hori declared Jessup to be a dangerous offender, a designation reserved for violent criminals who pose a continuing threat to the public. Dangerous offenders are locked up indefinitely, which is the harshest penalty available in Canada.
For Jessup’s sentence, Hori considered his lengthy criminal record of past violent offences, including multiple convictions for assaulting corrections officers as well as choking and nearly killing a five-year-old boy.
Hori handed out an indeterminate sentence for manslaughter and three years for interfering with human remains, to be served concurrently.
Jessup was also given a lifetime firearms prohibition and ordered to provide a sample of his DNA to the national criminal data bank.
