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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

Suspect charged in 2005 killing in Thompson

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 02/10/2012 9:04 AM | Last Modified: 02/10/2012 12:16 PM | Updates

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Chantelle Rikheim (HANDOUT)

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RCMP Cpl. Miles Hiebert releases details of an arrest made in connection with the 2005 death of Chantelle Rikheim. (KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Police have charged a man with second-degree murder in the 2005 death of Chantelle Rikheim in Thompson, Man.

Rikheim died Feb. 2, 2005 after she suffered blunt-force trauma and her home was set on fire, RCMP said Friday morning.

A 24-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the death. He cannot be identified because he was a youth when Rikheim was killed.

The suspect was a federal inmate in Prince Albert, Sask., when he was arrested. Police didn’t say why the man was already in custody, but said it was unrelated to the Rikheim case.

Police said the accused and Rikheim knew one another, but didn't say how.

"This arrest is a result of a culmination of seven years hard work and dedicated service by the investigators," said Cpl. Miles Hiebert, who said officers "sifted through mountains of evidence."

He said DNA evidence played a role in the investigation, which involved officers from the Serious Crime and Major Crime Unit, as well as the Thompson RCMP detachment. It also included members of the Forensic Identification Unit.

In 2005, Rikheim’s father told the Free Press he’d been at work at the Inco mine when he got a call about a fire at his mobile home.

"I started to get really upset," Rikheim said at the time. "The police said they'd send a car to get me and we'd look for my daughter."

Human remains were later found in the trailer.

Chantelle Rikheim had worked at a local pizza restaurant, where she washed dishes and bussed tables.

Rikheim said he hoped police would make an arrest in the case.

"These guys are good," Rikheim said of the RCMP investigators in 2005.

"I hope they make an arrest soon."