Triple homicide rocks McCreary

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/08/2024 (435 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MCCREARY — RCMP are investigating a triple homicide that happened in western Manitoba Friday morning.

Ste. Rose du Lac RCMP were contacted about a dead man on Road 84 West in the municipality of McCreary at about 10:10 a.m. Officers found a 41-year-old man dead from a self-inflicted wound.

A half-hour later, RCMP were asked to check on the well-being of a 37-year-old woman. She was not at home when officers arrived.

RCMP continued on to a nearby home in search of the woman and found the bodies of three people — a 35-year-old man, a 65-year-old man and a 66-year-old woman. All three were homicide victims, Staff Sgt. Richard Sherring of major crime services said at a news conference late Friday afternoon at RCMP D Division headquarters in Winnipeg.

The 37-year-old woman was found in the area at about 1 p.m. and was taken to hospital as a precaution.

“This is another absolute tragedy here today in Manitoba. Our thoughts are with all those affected,” Sherring said.

Police are not searching for any suspects.

Sherring said all five people were related but was scant on further details of the circumstances surrounding the deaths. He declined to say whether the deaths were a case of murder-suicide.

“Everything is in its infancy,” he said, adding updates will become available as the investigation progresses.

Nine unmarked police vehicles sat in front of a house early Friday evening at the corner of Provincial Road 462 and Road 84 West, several kilometres southeast of McCreary.

The property was surrounded by trees and yellow police tape had been placed around the entire perimeter.

Behind the tape, a sign attached to a flower planter said: “the Rosenkranz family.”

An assortment of farm implements and vehicles were scattered around the grounds in various states of repair.

An officer on scene said questions should be directed to RCMP media relations. At one point, an officer told his colleagues he was going to visit “the other scene” and headed east in a truck.

The resident of another property to the northwest declined to provide his name but said the owners of the home being investigated were Rita and Curtis Rosenkranz, the latter being a longtime co-worker of his. He said the couple lived with their adult son.

He said the scuttlebutt around town that afternoon had been that the Rosenkranz family had been the ones involved in the homicide. Earlier in the day, he said he had seen a string of police vehicles heading south.

At another nearby farmhouse, residents said they knew the owners of the property being investigated but they “weren’t allowed” to divulge any information.

Asked if the sign at the house with the family name was accurate, they said “if that’s what the sign says.”

They said they hadn’t heard about the incident until they came home and saw police at the neighbouring property.

As of 7:30 p.m., officers were still investigating the scene.

McCreary Reeve Rick Sonnenberg said he was shocked to learn of the triple homicide.

“It’s horrible. It’s a terrible thing. You think it’s never gonna happen in your town, and here we are,” Sonnenberg said by phone Friday.

The reeve said he knew of the victims but was unsure of their names or relation.

“We all feel terrible,” he said.

Premier Wab Kinew said he spoke with Sonnenberg to express his support for the community.

“This is heavy,” Kinew wrote on the social media platform X. “Let’s be there for each other.”

The RM has a population of just over 700 people, according to the 2021 census.

McCreary is northeast of Riding Mountain National Park and roughly a 90-minute drive northeast of Brandon.

cslark@brandonsun.com

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca