Crown feared credibility issues after ‘Mr. Big’ sting

Credibility issues involving an undercover investigator played a key role in prosecutors abandoning a second-degree murder charge against cold-case killer Kevin Queau, a judge was told Thursday.

Queau, 44, was in court for sentencing after entering a surprise plea Monday to manslaughter in the April 2007 killing of 24-year-old Crystal Saunders.

Queau admitted to the lesser offence as part of a plea bargain that includes a joint Crown and defence recommendation he be sentenced to 12 years in prison.

He was arrested in 2024 following an RCMP “Mr. Big” sting in Vancouver.

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.

“Both parties have given something up in exchange for this plea arrangement,” Crown attorney Mike Desautels told King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond on Thursday. “The Crown has given up the chance to convince a jury that the acts and words of Mr. Queau were proven to be second-degree murder (and) the accused has given up a chance to fight about the admissibility of a statement he provided to undercover officers” and other issues of contention.

The unexpected plea bargain came after months of pre-trial motions and hearings in advance of a jury trial scheduled for next year.

Desautels said prosecutors were alerted last month to disciplinary proceedings involving an undercover RCMP officer who had the most dealings with Queau during the “Mr. Big” investigation, dubbed Project Domain.

The officer’s alleged misconduct occurred during his recent pre-trial testimony and related to his “credibility, his compliance with RCMP policies during undercover operations, his reliability as a witness, and how he conducted himself during undercover operations,” Desautels said.

“Now while these are only allegations and the officer is on leave at this point, the officer may have been ordered to be recalled as a witness in these proceedings, the details of the allegations may have been explored in his testimony and this would have resulted in extensive delays in what is already a lengthy litigation,” he said.

Health issues involving a second investigator and his inability to testify at future hearings also played a role in the plea bargain, Desautels said.

Queau had no criminal record at the time Saunders was killed, but in 2015 was convicted of sexual assault and aggravated assault following separate attacks on two women he had met for sex. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

A subsequent assessment by Corrections Canada “painted a somewhat dim view of his prospects for rehabilitation,” and described Queau as manipulative, lacking in remorse and “strikingly narcissistic,” Desautels said.

Saunders was strangled to death. An RCMP officer found her naked and battered body April 19, 2007, in a water-filled ditch near St. Ambroise. Saunders was involved in the sex trade and struggled with addictions and homelessness.

Queau told undercover 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,” said an agreed statement of facts provided to court.

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.

Bond adjourned the hearing to Friday afternoon to allow Saunders’ mother Sandra Saunders time to prepare a victim impact statement.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca