Jayda Noyes / Prince Albert Daily Herald file photo: RCMP officer Bernie Herman
Former Saskatchewan RCMP officer Bernie Herman, who was convicted of killing his former lover in a park, was sentenced in June to 11 years in prison.
Herman, 55, was convicted in January of manslaughter in the death of Braden Herman, 26. The two aren’t related. He was initially charged with first-degree murder but the judge said the Crown had not proven that he planned to kill him.
“In one sense, this case is as near to murder as it can get, but on the other it was also near to self-defence,” said Justice Gary Meschishnick in Court of King’s Bench in Prince Albert, Sask.
Justice Meschishnick said Bernie Herman was terrified that his romantic relationship with Braden Herman would be exposed and the officer left his “moral compass in his pocket.”
In 2021, Braden Herman’s naked body was found in a park on the outskirts of Prince Albert. He was homeless when he met the RCMP officer on Facebook in 2018. The officer invited him to move into his family home and their relationship became sexual. It affected the officer’s marriage and his wife kicked the younger man out of their home in 2019 but the two men continued to meet up for sex, court heard.
On May 11, 2021, while off-duty but still wearing his uniform and carrying his duty weapon, Bernie Herman picked up Braden Herman and they drove to the park.
During his trial, the officer tetified that while at the park, a naked Braden Herman, grabbed him by the face and walked to the back of the RCMP truck and bent down to grab an object.
Bernie Herman claimed he didn’t remember what happened next. Court heard his gun “went off.”
