‘I just shot and killed him:’ Mountie texted wife after lover’s death

By Nigel Maxwell

Graphic details of a love affair between two men and a marriage in disarray were read aloud in a Prince Albert courtroom Wednesday morning.

A digital forensic investigator from the Calgary police was the Crown’s final witness at Bernie Herman’s first-degree murder trial. Herman is alleged to have used his RCMP-issued service pistol to shoot and kill 26-year-old Braden Herman in May of 2021.

The two men are not related.

Bernie Herman retired from the RCMP shortly after charges were brought forward. He is currently out on bail.

Const. Riley Babott was asked to retrieve data from cellphones belonging to Bernie Herman, Braden Herman and Bernie’s wife, Janice Herman. From the phones, hundreds of screenshots, text messages, Snapchats, call logs and social media conversations were analyzed.

One of the more startling text messages was sent by Bernie to his wife on the evening of Braden’s death, and was the last time he spoke to her before his arrest. After claiming Braden has “gone too far this time” and that he had had enough, Bernie criticized his wife for believing lies and then said her life was about to permanently change.

“I just shot and killed him and I won’t be around for it … love you my wife and tell my kids also,” he wrote.

Court heard that roughly an hour and a half before that text message, Bernie called Braden 19 times over a 20-minute span. Many of the calls went unanswered and Bernie continued calling.

According to testimony heard in court earlier this week, Bernie and Braden met roughly five years ago through Facebook and built a friendship by attending hockey games and going out for coffee.

Within a few months of the men meeting, Braden was invited to live at the family’s home and slept in the basement. Court heard the accused occasionally shared a bed with Braden to ease his anxiety.

When Janice Herman testified Tuesday, she expressed how hurt she was by her husband’s actions and a text message she sent her husband in 2020 supported that.

“While you were having the time of your life in our basement, I was upstairs crying for you,” she said.

Braden was asked to leave the home in 2019, but the retrieved cellphone data indicates the intimate affair continued and there were various pleas by Janice asking her husband to end the relationship.

“You have no respect for me. You want him, not me,” another message read.

Various Snapchat conversations between Braden and Bernie made references to sexual acts, but there were also several messages from Braden referring to Bernie being too afraid to admit his sexual preference.

“I’m not embarrassed to say I (expletive) you,” he said, usually referring to Bernie as to “my love.”

While there was tension for months between Braden and Janice, there was a point where they appeared to reconcile. They were seen together shortly before Braden’s death.

In earlier testimony, court heard from Janice that Braden continually harassed her and her husband. However, a close friend of Braden’s reached out to paNOW and explained that after Braden moved from Bernie’s Prince Albert home to his hometown of La Loche, Bernie followed him. And when Braden attempted to block Bernie, Bernie found alternative ways to contact him.

Throughout the proceedings this week, Bernie has remained calm in the prisoner’s box and listened attentively to the testimony, not showing any visible emotions. When certain dates of the text messages were entered into the record, he shifted in his seat.

Defence is slated to present its case later this week. It’s unclear at this time if the accused will testify.