ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The man charged in connection with human remains stolen from a Conception Bay South (C.B.S.) cemetery made a brief court appearance by video from Her Majesty’s Penitentiary Thursday morning.
As Lucas Dawe, 20, was seen on a TV screen, listening in from a small room at the prison, his lawyer, Ken Hollett represented him in the courtroom. Hollett said he had just received the details of the case against Lucas, and asked for time to review it.
Dawe was arrested early last week after police responded to a call for service in the T’Railway area of Foxtrap. They located human remains, which the RNC’s Major Crime Unit, working with the province’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, determined were “quite old” and not related to any current missing person cases.
Sources say the skeletal remains date back to the 1800s.
Sources also told The Telegram last week Dawe had allegedly boiled the bones and drank some of the water. He was reportedly seen licking them as well.
Dawe was charged with possessing property stolen from All Saints’ Parish in C.B.S., as well as with interfering with human remains. The latter charge, according to the RNC, has only been laid once before in past decade.
David Folker was convicted in 2013 of second-degree murder and interfering with human remains in connection with the death of his girlfriend and mother of his child, Ann Marie Shirran in July 2010. Folker killed Shirran in the couple’s home before leaving her body in a remote area of Capphayden, where it was later discovered. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years. Folker appealed his conviction but his appeal was dismissed in 2016.
In 2009, Warren White of St. John’s pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his girlfriend, 29-year-old Amanda Power, as well as interfering with her remains after her dismembered body was found in a suitcase near their Warbury Street home. He was sentenced to life in prison with no parole for 17 years.
In addition to the charges related to the skeletal remains, Dawe is facing charges related to three thefts from a Circle K store in C.B.S. on Jan. 28 and 29, as well as a number of charges of breaching court orders.
He’ll make his next court appearance May 1.
Last Saturday, members of the RNC and staff of the Chief Medical Examiner’s office visited a grave in All Saints Cemetery, using cardboard to block the grave from view as they examined it. An excavator and a small pile of dirt were nearby.
The RNC has not provided any further updates, but has said its Major Crime Unit is continuing its investigation in the case and is asking anyone with any information that might assist them to call police at 729-8000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. Information can also be provided anonymously online at www.nlcrimestoppers.com.
— With files from Barb Sweet and Juanita Mercer
