Eleven member jury finds Robert Reitmeier guilty of second degree murder
Posted Nov 21, 2013 7:33 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
White supremacist Robert Reitmeier has been found guilty of second degree murder in connection to the death of Mark Mariani.
The 47-year-old ailing man was found in an alley beaten, stomped and kicked back in October of 2010.
Investigators believe Mariani was leaving a video store in a 16th Avenue NW strip mall when he came across two neo-Nazis.
One of them, Tyler Sturrup, pled guilty last spring and is already serving a life sentence.
Members of the victim’s family were in the courtroom late Wednesday night when the verdict was read.
There were tears and hugs as they left the court house.
His brother Dino told reporters they’re happy with how things turned out.
“But, it’s still a sad part that even though we feel like justice has come through, there’s still that void and that won’t go away,” he said.
It’s been a three year long journey for relatives who had been working hand-in-hand with investigators to locate Mark’s killers.
At one point, they even held a Crime Stopper’s re-enactment pleading for members of the public with information to come forward and help detectives.
Dino thinks he knows why it happened.
“I think it was senseless, I think it was stupid, it was some people who didn’t care about human life and decided to do that for whatever reason,” he explained.
Katherine Weltzin, Mark’s sister, felt like she was going to pass out when the verdict was read.
“I’ve tried to be the voice, the ears, the eyes, the boots on the street for my Mom and Dad,” she explained. “I’m not taking away from what the other people did in this case but sort of to filter it for them and it’s been hard carrying that brick on my shoulders.”
The Marianis wore a flower, made of Mark’s clothing on each of their lapels to show solidarity and take a little piece of him wherever they went.
Crown Prosecutor with Specialized Prosecutions Adam May calls it a just verdict.
“A lot of hours go into preparing these types of files, you get to know the victims’ families often and often it motivates you to work harder and this was certainly the case here,” he said. “It’s certainly a sense of relief, many hours in the Crown’s office went into this and many more with the Calgary Police Service, I can tell you it was a top notch investigation.”
Second degree murder carries a life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 to 25 years.
Reitmeier’s case has been adjourned until Tuesday.
The recommendations of the jury for parole eligibility will be revealed then.
