The wife of a man who murdered an oil executive 15 years ago has filed a lawsuit against the family who bought the property northwest of Olds where the murder took place.
The wife of a man who murdered an oil executive 15 years ago has filed a lawsuit against the family who bought the property northwest of Olds where the murder took place.
Jean Roberts is suing Allan, Steven and Kevin Harper for $210,000 for failing to honour an agreement to subdivide a 1.2-hectare portion of the nearly 65-hectare property on Twp. Rd. 34 in the Garrington area of Red Deer County and transfer the title for the portion to her.
On Oct. 3, 1998, Jean’s husband, Eifion Wyn (Wayne) Roberts shot and killed Patrick Kent, a vice-president for KB Resources Inc. after Kent had come to the property the Robertses owned with a team of workers to clean up environmental contamination around an oil well.
In April 2002, nearly a year-and-a-half after Wayne was convicted for Kent’s murder, Jean agreed to sell the land to Allan Harper.
According to a statement of claim filed in February 2013, Jean argues that she and Allan entered into a "private agreement" that stated a 1.2-hectare portion of the property would not be included in the sale.
Allan agreed to subdivide the property to create a separate title for the portion and then transfer the title to Jean at no cost, the claim states.
There was no time limit for the subdivision to take place, the claim states, and Jean was responsible to pay the cost of the subdivision.
Jean also argues in the claim that Allan had agreed to pay her a further $10,000 before the end of 2004.
She moved a mobile home onto the portion of the property in question in April of 2002 and, the claim states, "she has lived there since that time, and has maintained exclusive, continuous, open, visible and notorious possession of the Lot at all times up to the present."
Allan became the owner of the property in May 2002, with joint tenancy for his sons Steven and Kevin, and Jean argues in the claim that Allan "refused or neglected" to subdivide the 1.2-hectare portion and transfer the title for that lot to her.
Along with seeking $200,000 in damages and the $10,000 she argues Allan owes her, Jean is also seeking an order giving her title to the portion of the property in question.
In a statement of defence filed in July, the Harpers deny that Allan entered into a private agreement with Jean to subdivide the lot and transfer title of it to her.
They also deny that Jean has maintained possession of the lot, stating in the defence that she was given permission to stay on the lot as a "licensee to occupy" and that the licence was granted "on a temporary basis having regard to Roberts’ life circumstances at the time."
Those circumstances, the Harpers stated, included Wayne’s conviction and imprisonment, Jean’s unemployment and lack of a place to live and injuries Jean suffered in a motor vehicle accident at the time from which Jean needed time to recover, find work and find a new place to live.
The Harpers also stated in their defence documents that they exercised "possessory rights" over the lot in question through the period when Jean occupied the land, arguing that, among other reasons, Allan’s name was on natural gas bills for the lot, the Harpers’ names are on a power contract supplying electricity to the lot, the Harpers had registered mortgages on the lot in 2008 and 2010 and that the Harpers paid annual property taxes on the lot and Jean’s mobile home.
Overall, the Harpers argued in the defence, Jean was allowed to stay on the land without paying the family rent, thereby saving between $61,000 and $62,000, and also saved $2,200 since the Harpers paid the taxes.
In a counterclaim also filed in July, the Harpers stated "there was a reasonable expectation between the parties that Ms. Roberts would compensate the Harpers for the use of the Disputed Lands" and the Harpers were therefore seeking compensation and interest for Jean’s 12 years of occupation of the land in the amount of $61,000, as well as $2,200 for the mobile home taxes.
The Harpers, according to the counterclaim, are also seeking a declaration that Jean is a licensee and orders directing Jean to vacate the property and not to remove any fixtures such as utility connections or well attachments from the lot.
Jean filed a statement of defence to the counterclaim in August in which she argued she was employed at the time the sale of the property took place and continues to work and the motor vehicle accident referenced in the statement of defence took place in 2007, after she had lived on the lot for five years.
She also stated she paid all natural gas bills for the lot and the lot had a separate electricity meter.
The Harpers, she argued, never requested that Jean pay property taxes and she denied that there was an agreement where she would compensate the Harpers for her occupation of the lot.
Last month, Wayne was granted full parole, which took effect Oct. 3, and the Robertses did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Steven Harper said his family had "no comment" on the matter.
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