Update: Michael White has been granted full parole. The decision of a two-member Parole Board was released in early June 2023.
Maureen Kelly, Liana White and Baby Ashley
The mother of murder victim Liana White has pleaded guilty to assault charges.
58-year-old Maureen Kelly of Edmonton pleaded guilty to assaulting two people on a farm near Mar, 230 kilometers northwest of Toronto on 4 August 2012.
Police arrived and put Kelly in the back of a cruiser. Her rental vehicle was then towed away.
After spending four days behind bars, the woman appeared in court in nearby Owen Sound where she pleaded guilty.
Michael White and Maureen Kelly at Liana’s wedding. For a few days in August 2012, they were each behind bars. Who would have suspected that when this photo was taken?
THE HOMICIDE
Kelly’s daughter, Liana White, was murdered in Edmonton in July 2005. The exact cause of her death was never determined.
The following year, a jury found her husband, Michael White, guilty of second-degree murder. The former soldier was sent off to prison with no chance of full parole for 17 years.
White — who has always maintained he did not kill his wife — is now at Beaver Creek Institution, a minimum security penitentiary at Gravenhurst, about two hours drive north of Toronto.
PROBATION FOR KELLY
Justice Robert Weseloh gave Kelly a 2-year conditional sentence, meaning if she keeps her nose clean for 24-months she won’t have a criminal record.
According to an ‘Adult Probation Order,’ the attacker has been ordered specifically to stay a kilometre away from four people, including a child [who cannot be named] and victims Bryan White and Larry Forbes. Kelly was ordered not to have any contact with them.
Bryan is the brother of Michael White; Larry Forbes is White’s stepfather.
Maureen Kelly is also prohibited from having weapons and must report to a probation officer.
Kelly could not be reached for comment.
Maureen Kelly and daughter Liana White
Byron Christopher 
I don’t actually ‘like’ that she did this, but it is nice to see that her true colours and malicious nature are finally showing. Ashley deserves better than living with her, and Michael deserves way better than the hand he’s been dealt.
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Liana deserved better than to be killed by her husband when she was 16 weeks pregnant. And Ashley deserves to live with people grounded in reality — not living in denial.
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Ms. Kelly sounds like a loose cannon, and judging from what she did in Ontario she may have a history of this kind of violent behaviour with other relatives.
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Michael White was convicted of murder. What does he deserve? He deserves to be in prison for murdering his wife, hiding her body in leaves and leaving his child mother and fatherless! How would you react had your child been murdered so horrifically?
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What does this comment have to do with Michael White? Kelly should not have acted out so violently to those people in Ontario.
She sure must have some mental issues. This woman needs professional help.
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What is scary is this woman was a social worker.
I worked with her briefly in a long term care centre in Edmonton. This was approximately 11 years ago (before the death of her daughter) and she was an odd then. I always thought she seemed unstable.
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Does anyone know how Ashley is doing … and where she is now? I often think of her and wonder where she is and how she’s doing with friends in school. My son is the same age and always kept her in my prayers hoping she was having the fun life a child should be having.
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A.W. is doing splendid. I can’t tell you where she’s living, or who she is now living with [Alberta Government Child Protection Laws] … but she is doing extremely well.
There are also new developments on the Michael White case that may surprise many. Stay tuned.
Byron Christopher
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Ya, like he wasn’t guilty and they threw the book at him because they had nowhere else to throw it without exposing a very ugly truth that would compromise their comfort and paychecks??? Just guessing…
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Thank you. It’s a great update.
My son remembers playing with Ashley and as they are the same age, I am delighted to hear this. I hope she lives life to its fullest and gets to enjoy every minute of it.
I will stay tuned for sure. Thanks for the headsup.
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I am thinking of my dear friend and co-worker Liana White. She would have celebrated her birthday this month.
I miss her so much.
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Pingback: "Dad is NOT a Killer" by Byron Christopher - Easton Spectator
A few questions, if you don’t mind.
The mother stated she saw her daughter the night before she disappeared. That is, the night before she went to work the next day. But she didn’t go to work the next day, did she? So who saw her last?
There was no blood in the White residence, and a kitchen knife. Seems to me if Michael did not kill his wife, someone else did, someone who probably wasn’t out and about with a big kitchen knife. A knife, I assume, was not missing from the family home?
Now stabbing like that would seem to be a crime of passion, what would the motive be? Would a husband kill his wife and then put the keys back.in the car after dumping her? Was there blood on in the area?
Where would a mother go before work? To run into this killer with a kitchen knife? Was her mother having a schizophrenic episode? Did she see ghosts and think her daughter was evil? Or have evil in her belly?
Did she continue to harrass the young daughter years later amd literally try to put a memory in her head or tell others she witnessed her father killing her mother when she didn’t?
Did she confess to a shrink? Did she have blackmail on anyone else? Police, etc . I know that may seem farfetched but doesn’t a lot on the case already?
How close was the body to the road ? Or woods? Was it drug from the car? Was she pushed? Was she dead? Could the mother have left her? Or pushed her out?
What’s the timeliness of the mother all night before.
I do know in one statement she said she had been up all night, that could have been the week before she was found and she was just a worried mother or was she usually up all night?
What were her patterns? Are there a lot of family photos left … where one might even see a knife in a photo?
What happened to any bloody clothes or evidence?
What is the whole timeline for every one ?
Did Michael have bruises from her fighting him off on her body? Or were the brushes on her body from running in the woods, etc. Did she have shoes on when she was found? Socks? Work clothes?
Was her purse in the vehicle ? Was she witnessed leaving for work or missing the night before? Her hair was in a ponytail? Is this how she always wore it to work?
Was there coffee in the car?
Was her mother religious? Did she consider her husband evil after finding out he did some theft or whatever? Did she take her ring?
Who watched the child when she went to work? Was her mother ever questioned?
How many times was her cell phone called when she was missing? By whom? How many times by mom? Was there a pass code on it?
So many questions … sorry I don’t expect to you to answer all those its just it seems like a lot was overlooked because yes, a mentally unstable woman really made it seem like the father was guilty when he was already a prime suspect. When in reality stealing shit doesn’t make you anything close to a murderer. But sometimes people can go nuts and stab people they love when they hear voices or see ghosts or thinks someone is evil. It may sound horrible to suggest but it’s still worth investigating.
Imagine if Michael White is truly innocent and this young woman has had not just her mother stolen from her but her father as well, not to mention her childhood.
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If Liana did go to her mother’s first…maybe whenever living in her home now would he kind enough to allow luminol testing.
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