Police release more details of accused’s arrest in double homicide

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Police say the arrest of a man last week in connection with a double homicide in December involved a standoff with officers.

The Manitoba First Nations Police Service released more information Wednesday about the arrest. RCMP said Monday that Preston Todd Dean Whitford, 30, was arrested during a “brief pursuit” after being seen by MFNPS officers in Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation on Jan. 9.

The MFNPS said Wednesday that officers were told about an attempted arson at a home in the area that day. Police later saw a vehicle matching the description they were given on Highway 50 near Langruth, which is roughly a 15-minute drive south of Sandy Bay.

The driver sped off, and the vehicle slid into a ditch in Sandy Bay. The man inside fled on foot. Officers tracked a suspect to an abandoned mobile home, where the man allegedly threatened police with a gun before eventually surrendering. The weapon was later determined to be an imitation firearm.

Officers searched the vehicle and located an SKS rifle and a pellet handgun, the MFNPS said.

James Borden, 42, and Emily Smoke, 37, were slain in a Portage la Prairie home on Dec. 1. RCMP hope to bring charges against a second suspect in the killings, RCMP said Monday.

In addition to two counts of second-degree murder, Whitford is also charged with four offences related to Jan. 9, including unauthorized possession of a gun, breaching an order not to possess weapons and resisting arrest.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca