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Man in custody after homicide

Woman's body in car trunk in St. Vital

By: Aldo Santin

Posted: 01/26/2013 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Police investigate the discovery of a body Thursday inside the trunk of a car on Pear Tree Bay in St. Vital. It is the city�s first homicide of 2013. (HANDOUT PHOTO)

A man was in custody Friday evening in connection with the discovery of a woman's body in the trunk of a car, the first homicide in Winnipeg in 2013.

Police found the woman's body in the trunk of a Honda Civic in a quiet bay in St. Vital Thursday afternoon after an investigation hours earlier in south Osborne.

Police said the investigation began at 4:25 a.m. Thursday, when officers were called to a home in the 500 block of Kylemore Avenue after a report of a possibly injured person.

But officers found no one at the home. They knocked loudly on the front door -- so loudly they woke neighbours -- and managed to get inside the home, but it was empty.

WPS spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said the trail eventually led to Pear Tree Bay in St. Vital, where the body of an adult woman was found in a late-1990s model Civic.

A cause of death has not been determined. An autopsy is pending.

Michalyshen said the woman did not live at either location. He would not say what her connection might be to the Kylemore residence or how or why she ended up on Pear Tree Bay.

Michalyshen said homicide investigators were conducting interviews of witnesses and possible suspects Friday.

"Right now, our goal is trying to piece together what really took place," Michalyshen said, adding he hoped an update will be released in a couple of days.

"Where those interviews will take us has yet to be determined."

Michalyshen said the woman's identity has been confirmed, but her name will not be released until after family members have been notified.

"This investigation evolved throughout the day (Thursday)," Michalyshen said. "Officers had to piece certain things together as quickly as possible and make every effort to try and determine what we were dealing with here."

The Kylemore home is owned by two brothers, one of whom lives there. Neighbours said the brother had a male roommate also living there.

Residents of Pear Tree Bay said Friday morning a body was found in the trunk of the vehicle, and investigators spent much of the day at a home there.

One resident, who didn't want her name used, said officers spent hours analyzing the trunk of a vehicle parked on the bay.

Police didn't leave the home until just before 9 p.m. Thursday, she said.

Anyone with information regarding this matter is asked to contact investigators at 204-986-6508 or Winnipeg Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

While the RCMP are dealing with eight homicides across the province this month, this is the first for the WPS.

Last year, the first homicide in Winnipeg took place Jan. 23 and there were two homicides by Jan. 15 in 2011. In 2010, the first homicide wasn't recorded until late March. But in 2009, Winnipeg police were dealing with three homicides by Jan. 21.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 26, 2013 A3

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