Taylor Japp convicted of Briana Hayes’s murder; parole wait undecided

Taylor Morgan Japp’s jury has settled the question of guilt. It has not settled how long he must serve before he can first become eligible for parole. His conviction for second-degree murder in Briana Hayes’s shooting death carries mandatory life imprisonment, but the case-specific parole-ineligibility period remains undecided. ^{2 3}

The 12-member jury returned its verdict just after 9:40 p.m. on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at the Court of King’s Bench in Estevan, Saskatchewan. The decision ended a six-week trial concerning Hayes’s April 2024 death. Japp denied killing her and testified that a masked man fired the shot; the jury nevertheless found him guilty. ^{1 3 7}

That distinction—between what a defendant said and what a jury determined—is central to understanding this case. The verdict establishes Japp’s criminal responsibility for second-degree murder. It does not supply a public explanation of which individual pieces of testimony jurors accepted, rejected or considered decisive.

The defendant’s full name is Taylor Morgan Japp, commonly shortened to Taylor Japp. Both he and Hayes were identified as being from Oxbow. CBC identified Japp as 26 in a caption accompanying a photograph dated September 21, 2026. ^{3 1 2}

The verdict followed two days of deliberations. October 7 and October 8 were reporting and publication dates, not the date the jury decided the case. SaskToday places the verdict on October 6, and DiscoverEstevan and CJME also describe the Tuesday-evening outcome. ^{1 3 5 7}

CTV’s October 7 newscast reported that Saskatchewan RCMP found Hayes’s body in the Rural Municipality of Moose Mountain on April 25, 2024. Those precise discovery details rest on CTV’s account; the other available reports do not independently corroborate them. The discovery location must also be kept separate from the house described in Japp’s testimony. ¹

According to CTV, Japp testified that he removed Hayes’s body from a house at White Bear Lake Resort and concealed it in a municipality roughly 45 minutes away, with Tyler Shaw’s help. That was his account of moving and hiding her body—not an admission that he shot her. His account attributed the shooting to a masked man. ¹

Shaw’s statement to police, as recounted by CTV, described a sharply different aftermath. Shaw said he heard a gunshot while outside and subsequently saw Japp holding a black pistol beside Hayes’s bleeding body. This is an account of what Shaw said he heard and saw afterward, not a claim that he witnessed the shot being fired. ¹

There is an unresolved inconsistency in the reporting about Shaw’s participation. CTV’s October 7 verdict account said he had died before the trial and did not testify. DiscoverEstevan’s September 24 defence coverage, however, referred to differences between his original police statement and his “later testimony.” The available accounts do not establish whether that reference concerns another proceeding, another stage or an error. ^{1 24}

That uncertainty limits how confidently the police account can be described. It must not be presented as uncontested eyewitness testimony delivered in person to this jury. Precisely how Shaw’s statement entered the trial record remains unestablished.

Other trial coverage identified Brandon Gibson as the Crown’s final witness and described Gibson and Hayes as assisting Japp in drug dealing across southern Saskatchewan. Those descriptions belong to the trial evidence; the murder verdict does not separately establish every allegation about their activities. ²⁵

Reports of Japp’s testimony also describe an alleged $30,000 offer to Gibson, alongside discussion of an alibi and interactions with Shaw. The available excerpts identify Gibson as the alleged recipient but do not establish who offered the money, its purpose or whether the allegation was contested. There is no specific jury finding establishing an offer, a payment or an attempted purchase of testimony. Filling those gaps would turn an allegation discussed at trial into a conclusion the reporting cannot support. ^{22 26}

The sentencing consequence is clearer than those disputed details. CBC reports that second-degree murder carries mandatory life imprisonment and that parole eligibility cannot begin for at least 10 years. SaskToday reports that Japp’s parole-ineligibility period has yet to be determined. No completed sentencing order or case-specific period is established by the available coverage. ^{2 3}

Ten years therefore must not be presented as Japp’s final parole-ineligibility period, much less as a promised release date. The important distinction is between the mandatory life sentence and the period during which he cannot first become eligible for parole.

The sentencing judge determines that period. The available Criminal Code excerpts identify the offender’s character as a consideration and provide for a jury-recommendation procedure following a second-degree murder conviction. They do not establish the complete statutory range, every exception or the full list of considerations, and no recommendation in Japp’s case is established here. ^{14 15}

CTV reported that counsel were expected back in court on Friday morning, October 9, to discuss a date for sentencing submissions. That expected appearance has not been independently confirmed. Its stated purpose is scheduling—not imposing an agreed sentence or conducting an already confirmed sentencing hearing. ¹

The jury’s decision is consequential and definite: Japp is guilty of murdering Hayes. The next consequential decision remains ahead. The date of sentencing submissions, the positions the prosecution and defence will take, and the parole-ineligibility period the judge will impose are still unresolved.

CTV News: Regina at Six, October 7, 2026; and two web verdict reports, both titled “Saskatchewan man found guilty of fatally shooting woman.” ^{1 4 6}

CBC News: “Estevan jury finds Taylor Japp guilty of 2nd-degree murder in death of Briana Hayes”; and “Crown rests case in 2nd-degree murder trial of Taylor Japp.” ^{2 25}

SaskToday: its verdict report on Taylor Japp’s conviction; and “Jury begins deliberations in Taylor Japp second-degree murder trial.” 980 CJME: its verdict report. 620 CKRM: its report on the start of deliberations. ^{3 8 5 9}

DiscoverEstevan: verdict coverage at both supplied addresses; reports on deliberations, Japp’s testimony and the defence challenge to Tyler Shaw’s evidence. DiscoverMooseJaw: reports on Japp’s testimony and post-shooting communications. ^{7 23 10 22 24 11 26}

Department of Justice Canada, Criminal Code: section 745 at both supplied addresses; sections 745.1, 745.2, 745.4 and 745.5, including the supplied alternative addresses; and section 745.51. ^{12 30 18 14 16 15 29 13 28}

Additional sentencing references: Criminal Code Help, “Second-Degree Murder in Canada: Sentence & Parole”; Crime Canada, “Second Degree Murder”; “Murderers’ Parole Eligibility: The Evolution of Judicial …”; Canada’s 2011 announcement on tougher sentences for murderers; and the CanLII commentary “A Study of the Use of Parole Ineligibility for Murder …”. ^{17 27 19 20 21}