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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Suspect charged in 1970 slaying

Manitoban arrested in Ontario homicide

By: Staff Writer

17/12/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

A WINNIPEG man has been charged in a murder that happened nearly 40 years ago in Kingston, Ont.

Joseph Clifford Edward Langford, 66, was arrested in Winnipeg this week. He has been charged with non-capital murder in the southern Ontario city's oldest unsolved case. Langford was 26 at the time of the homicide.

The Criminal Code was changed in 1976 to replace capital and non-capital murder charges with first and second-degree murder classifications. Non-capital murder is the equivalent of second-degree murder.

Police reopened the case in September 2008.

Marshall Augustus (Teddy) Matier, 64, was found dead behind an armoury building in downtown Kingston in July 1970. He had been stabbed 18 times and had a fractured skull.

Kingston police described Matier as a well-known and liked retired man. He was on social assistance and ran errands in pool halls and hotels for extra income.

Doreen Glendenning, 79, is Matier's niece and one of his few surviving family members. She described her uncle as "a helpless character, but he was everybody's friend. He wouldn't kill a flea."

She called the news about the break in the case a gift that money can't buy.

"A heavy burden's been lifted off of my body. I know it's not finished yet... but it's gone this far now that I'm beginning to feel more relieved."

Kingston police Const. Michael Menor said the Winnipeg Police Service played a role in helping locate Langford.

"They did a great job. Kudos to them."

-- Canwest News Service with files from Britt Harvey

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 17, 2009 B4

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