The fatal New Year’s Day stabbing of high school student Stefanie Rengel was the tragic result of a jealous obsession that drove a 15-year-old rival to pressure her boyfriend into murder, a jury heard yesterday.
As temperatures dipped to -40 C with the wind chill early Jan. 1, 2008, Rengel, 14, was found in the snow outside her parents’ home suffering from six stab wounds in a shocking crime that prosecutors allege was planned and carried out by teens.
Yesterday, the trial began for the girl, now 17, accused of first-degree murder in Rengel’s death. The girl’s one-time boyfriend, who was 17 at the time of the killing, also faces a charge of first-degree murder and will stand trial this fall.
People who counsel or encourage other people to kill are also guilty of murder, Crown prosecutor Robin Flumerfelt told the jury.
“(She) didn’t just counsel or encourage, she pressured (the co-accused) into killing Stefanie,” Flumerfelt said.
“Why? Because of a jealousy that grew inside of (the accused) that became so bitter and so vile that she slowly formed an idea that became an obsession.”
Neither of the accused can be identified because of their age.
