Jury selection is scheduled to commence on Wednesday for the trial of Taylor Japp, who is facing second-degree murder charges in the death of Briana Hayes, 28, whose body was discovered in a rural area in the RM of Moose Mountain in April 2024. Both Hayes and Japp resided in Oxbow, Sask., approximately 250 kilometers southeast of Regina.
Following a report of a potential homicide on April 24, 2024, RCMP officers began investigating the case. Despite searching the Oxbow landfill, no human remains were located. Hayes’s body was eventually found on April 25, 2026, in a rural location.
The victim, a mother of three, is remembered in her obituary. The trial, scheduled to take place from Sept. 2 to Oct. 9, is expected to reveal more details about the alleged murder. Jury selection is being conducted at the Estevan legion hall, with the trial proceeding at the Estevan courthouse.
Additionally, a second individual, Tyler Shaw, was initially charged with being an accessory after the fact to Hayes’s murder, but those charges have been dropped.