Facebook selfie clue helps convict Canadian woman who killed her friend

An incriminating clue in a Facebook selfie was used as evidence to help convict a Canadian woman who strangled her friend to death.

Cheyenne Rose Antoine pleaded guilty to killing 18-year-old Brittney Gargol in March 2015 after police used clues in the Facebook post, uploaded six hours before the victim's body was found, to identify her as a suspect.

Investigators found a black belt matching the one worn by Antoine in the Facebook photo near the body of her victim on the side of a road near a landfill site in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CBC Saskatoon reports.

Antoine was found guilty of manslaughter this week and sentenced to seven years in prison for strangling her friend.

The pair had been drinking and were high on drugs when they got into an argument, Antoine told police.

She had initially told investigators the pair were out drinking in a number of bars before her friend left with an unknown man.

However police later discovered through a tip-off that Antoine had confessed to a friend she had killed Gargol and later found out she had lied to her uncle to try and cover up the killing. 

The 21-year-old had also intentionally tried to obstruct the investigation by misleading detectives with a Facebook post to her friend on the night she killed her.

“Where are you?” she wrote. “Haven’t heard from you. Hope you made it home safe.”

Antoine, who had initially faced a second-degree murder charge, admitted responsibility for her friend’s death but said she could not remember the details of what had happened on the night.

Crown prosecutor Robin Ritter said it was “quite remarkable” how police discovered the information that helped solve the case, adding: “No doubt this young women has issues...and because of those issues she is dangerous.”

Jennifer Gargol, Brittney's aunt, said in an impact statement read to the court: “Most days we can't stop thinking about Brittney, what happened that night, what she must have felt fighting for her life.

“You feel darkened in your own dark world...you robbed this world of someone who had a special gift.”

Antoine said in a statement released through her lawyer:  “I will never forgive myself.

“Nothing I say or do will ever bring her back. I am very, very sorry. It shouldn't have ever happened.”

Lisa Watson, Antoine's lawyer, said it was a “tragic situation where drug and alcohol use exploded”.

“My client had some very deep-seeded personal issues that she was not dealing with and unfortunately, for whatever reason, we’ll never know, they turned into a very tragic situation for all involved,” she added.