RCMP make arrest in 2007 Portage la Prairie slaying

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This article was published 10/05/2017 (3100 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The daughter of a Portage la Prairie woman killed in 2007 says she’s sad but relieved to hear the RCMP have made an arrest in the cold case.

The RCMP arrested a 30-year-old woman in MacGregor, which is half an hour from where Cherie Lake’s mother, Charlene Ward, was found dead in her own home.

“I thought that they forgot about her,” said Lake. Then, last year, the RCMP reached out to say they’d been working on the case all along. “It’s nice that I know she’s not forgotten.”

Lake remembers her mother as vibrant and stubborn. Ward was 46 when she went out to celebrate Halloween with her friends. The Métis mother of two, grandmother of five and cancer survivor celebrated at the Cat & Fiddle Nite Club in Portage. Later she invited friends back to her 5th Avenue NE home for a party. Her body was found the next morning.

Last December, the RCMP called Lake to tell her they had a suspect. When an arrest didn’t immediately follow, Lake said she assumed they had gone after the wrong person.

On Wednesday morning, she learned they hadn’t.

“I was relieved,” she said. “It’s been so long.”

For years, police encouraged anyone who knows anything about Ward’s killing to come forward. It’s not known whether the arrest was made based on a tip from the public. The RCMP’s investigation is ongoing, and officials are asking anyone with additional information about the case to call the tip line at 204-984-6447.

The RCMP did not release the name of the suspect, who isn’t expected to be charged until Thursday.

Lake, who was 26 at the time her mother was killed, said she’ll remember her always as “crazy, but, you know, in the good way.”

“She was very outspoken and stubborn,” she said, “if she was right, she was right, even if she was wrong.”

Lake said Ward was the kind of person who would literally give you the shirt off her back if you mentioned, even casually, you thought it was beautiful. Lake chuckled remembering watching her mother sneak her children treats and other candy even though she knew they weren’t allowed to eat them.

“She was awesome as a grandma,” Lake said, always coming over to make cinnamon buns with the kids. Ward shared her strength with her children and grandchildren.

“I remember it the most,” Lake said. “She fought for everything — I mean everything. Her job, her house, her kids, her family, her life.” 

jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca