RCMP charge ex-Winnipegger living in B.C. with murder in Indigenous woman’s 2007 slaying

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This article was published 29/01/2024 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A B.C. man who formerly lived in Winnipeg has been charged with second-degree murder, 17 years after an Indigenous woman’s body was found near Lake Manitoba.

Crystal Saunders, 24, was last seen by an on-duty Winnipeg Police Service officer April 18, 2007, getting into a vehicle at the northeast corner of Sargent Avenue and Sherbrook Street.

Her body was found the next morning near St. Ambroise, about 100 kilometres northwest of the capital, by an off-duty Mountie.

On Monday, Mounties announced they had arrested Kevin Charles Queau, 42, in Vancouver and charged him with second-degree murder.

RCMP major crime unit Supt. Rob Lasson told a news conference the investigation hinged on advancements in DNA technology.

“With any case, we have to continually reassess and resubmit sometimes our DNA profiles until it meets a threshold that’s substantive enough for the lab. That’s the first step and sometimes that can take years,” he said, adding a charge can’t be laid until RCMP is certain there’s a sound, prosecutable case.

Queau and Saunders were in contact the evening before RCMP found her body, Lasson said, but did not provide any other details.

At the time, DNA was located on Saunders’s remains, but the suspect’s identity remained unknown.

In 2014, the National DNA Data Bank linked the sample to Queau through swabs taken from the man’s prior convictions, police said.

Queau has convictions in Manitoba dating to 2008, including forgery and theft, but possible criminal convictions in other jurisdictions were not readily available Monday.

“From here, the investigation into Crystal’s death progressed greatly, which involved police and support staff from across Canada,” Lasson said.

Queau remains in custody in Surrey, B.C., and will be transported to Winnipeg in the coming days, police said.

Lasson said DNA doesn’t always meet the threshold to be submitted as evidence, necessitating further investigating, particularly over the past 14 months.

“This is a really good case to say, 17 years later, we didn’t give up and we did secure a charge on somebody in custody.”

Queau was working and living in different parts of Canada between 2007 and his arrest Saturday, including Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. — most recently in the lower mainland, RCMP said.

Lasson described Saunders — who identified as Métis — as well-liked and friendly, but disclosed she was also considered vulnerable. “And someone took advantage of that.”

After her death, Saunders’s mother, Sandra, told the Free Press her daughter had fallen into addiction and was involved in sex work.

“She said she was being threatened — ‘They know I’m here, they know I’m around,’” she said at the time. “She was so high, I didn’t take it seriously.”

On Monday, Lasson said the mother was “overwhelmed” with the news RCMP had made an arrest.

Manitoba Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine called the arrest good news for those also waiting for answers in the deaths of their loved ones.

“What you’re going to see is that families will have a sense of hope, but also coupled with frustration, that the RCMP or the WPS or whatever policing institution across the country are continuing to investigate these cold-case long files,” she told media after the news conference.

Anita Campbell, a spokesperson for the Infinity Women Secretariat, said the Manitoba Métis Federation-affiliated organization will work with the Saunders family in the coming weeks.

“What we’re trying to do is make sure that there are ongoing supports after, because it doesn’t stop,” she said.

Saunders is one of many slain Métis women who slip through the cracks, Campbell added. “We’re trying to make sure that we’re pushing to identify these individuals, because it’s important to them — like it would be important to you to make sure that your identity is there.”

Queau is not considered a suspect in any other historical homicides, however, Mounties are investigating if there are any links to other unsolved crimes, Lasson said.

“We’re not going to give up, and we look for opportunities on each and every file. And when we see an opportunity, we put full force behind it.”

RCMP asked anyone with information to call RCMP at 1-888-673-3316.

Campbell said the case is an example of “fragmentation” within the various police detachments, which lead to delays in investigations.

“I think the more communication that they have… I think would work to their advantage,” she said.

“The more that they discuss and the more they meet with our communities, the better it’s going to be… We’re all trying to get to the end goal, which is to solve and have more announcements like this.”

– With files from Malak Abas

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

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