Accused cold-case killer pleads guilty to manslaughter

A former Winnipeg man arrested following a “Mr. Big” investigation into the cold-case killing of Crystal Saunders has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Kevin Charles Queau, 44, had been set to stand trial next year for second-degree murder in the 2007 killing and has been in and out of court for months as Crown and defence lawyers argued a series of pre-trial motions.

In a sudden development early Friday afternoon, Queau entered a guilty plea to the reduced charge during an appearance before King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond.

Queau, who remains in custody, will return to court Thursday, when Crown and defence lawyers are expected to recommend he be sentenced to 12 years in prison. Court is also expected to hear why the Crown accepted Queau’s plea to the lesser charge.

Saunders, 24, was strangled to death. An RCMP officer found her naked and battered body April 19, 2007, in a water-filled ditch near St. Ambroise.

An agreed statement of facts provided to court detailed the investigation that led to Queau’s eventual arrest in 2024.

Saunders was involved in the sex trade and struggled with addictions and homelessness.

“Despite significant efforts, police were unable to identify who she had been with the night she went missing,” says the agreed statement of facts.

Investigators learned two Winnipeg Police Service constables had seen Saunders that night getting into a red vehicle. The officers attempted to follow and stop the vehicle but lost sight of it in the North End.

With no suspect identified, the case was assigned to Project Devote, a joint RCMP-Winnipeg Police Service task force dedicated to reviewing the unsolved killings of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Then, in 2015, a break: Queau was convicted in British Columbia of sexually assaulting a woman and his DNA was entered into the national DNA databank.

Queau’s DNA proved a match to DNA collected from Saunders’ neck and fingernails.

“With this information, the investigation turned to Queau as the main subject,” says the agreed statement of facts.

“Having exhausted traditional investigative techniques,” RCMP developed a “Mr. Big” sting targeting Queau.

In a “Mr. Big” sting, undercover officers posing as members of a criminal organization befriend the target and include him in their operations. Later, when investigators have the target’s confidence, they bait the hook, telling the target if they want to climb the criminal ladder, they need to confess all their past bad deeds.

Between Feb. 8, 2023 and Jan. 27, 2024, undercover officers staged 52 “scenarios,”posing as a criminal organization involved in money laundering and the transportation of illegal goods via a boat they operated in and around Vancouver.

“After initiating a relationship with Mr. Queau, they began involving him in the group’s operations, mainly as a deck hand,” says the agreed statement of facts.

Queau was paid for his work, “though not excessively,” and encouraged to “work his way up” in the organization.

“Undercover officers also socialized with him and encouraged a high degree of camaraderie,” says the agreed statement of facts. “Throughout the operation, the (officers) constantly stressed the importance of candour, setting up scenarios to reinforce this message. It was suggested that the organization could help deal with law enforcement issues if they were aware of them.”

In the final scenario, undercover officers told Queau they had learned he was under investigation by police in Manitoba for a murder in 2007. Queau was brought to the boat where the supposed head of the crime group told him an upcoming “job” might have to be cancelled and the captain of the boat, whom Queau was being groomed to replace, would be unable to retire.

An undercover officer asked Queau why police were investigating him and said the crime group could help him if he disclosed what he had done.

“Mr. Queau promptly advised that he had killed a sex worker in Manitoba,” says the agreed statement of facts. “He provided a detailed version of Ms. Saunders’ homicide that included… having discarded her body in St. Ambrose.”

Queau told officers he had picked Saunders up in his red Chevy Blazer and drove to an alley. Queau said they had begun to “fool around” when Saunders pulled out a knife and attempted to rob him.

Queau “placed both of his hands around her neck and choked Ms. Saunders for ‘two-to-three minutes’ causing her death.”

Queau said Saunders was bleeding from the mouth as he strangled her, but did not admit to otherwise injuring her.

An autopsy showed Saunders had bruising to her head, both legs and arms and scrapes to her chest.

After killing Saunders, Queau drove toward Portage la Prairie, pulling over on the highway to strip Saunders of her clothing. Queau said he continued on to St. Ambroise where he stopped at a campground, dragged her body from the car and “dumped her… in a ditch.”

Queau returned to his fraternity house in Winnipeg where he burned Saunders’ clothing and purse in a fire pit. Queau drove to Edmonton the next day and washed his vehicle with bleach.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca