Man on trial for killing transgender sex worker allegedly confessed to neighbour

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This article was published 29/10/2015 (1408 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Theodore Herntier allegedly told an associate that he had committed a homicide – then quickly packed up his business and left town.

The surprise confession came right around the time that Divas Boulanger, a transgender Winnipeg sex trade worker, vanished off the streets in the fall of 2004. Her body would be found weeks later, wrapped in plastic and dumped outside a highway rest stop near Portage la Prairie.

"He said he made a mistake and he killed somebody. He said nobody would miss this person, they’re scum," a key Crown witness told a jury on Thursday at Herntier’s second-degree murder trial. The Free Press is not publishing the man’s name at the request of the Crown who cited ongoing legal concerns.

The 34-year-old man was running an automotive business at the time on Wall Street and shared space with Herntier, who operated a machine shop. The two would often chat, but the man said there was something unsettling about this particular conversation.

"He was acting different, not himself," he told jurors. "I just aid I guess you had to do what you had to do. I didn’t know what else to say."

It was only weeks later that Herntier suddenly began moving all his equipment from the business into a van, telling his neighbour he was moving to Alberta to work on the oil rigs. He never saw him again.

Police came and interviewed the man in the spring of 2005, telling him they were investigating Herntier as a possible suspect in a homicide. The man said Thursday he didn’t initially tell police about Herntier’s confession – a move which was questioned Thursday by defence lawyer Martin Glazer.

"You figured you better come up with a story, didn’t you? You didn’t want to be blamed for this homicide," Glazer said in cross-examination. The man said that wasn’t the case, and he just didn’t know how to react.

"You blamed Mr. Herntier to avoid being blamed yourself, didn’t you?" said Glazer.

"No," the witness replied.

"You lied to the police to save yourself," Glazer said. The man said he had nothing to hide because he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Police wouldn’t arrest Herntier until 2010. His trial began last week.

A big part of the case against Herntier relies on DNA evidence. Jurors were told forensic investigators obtained a sample of blood inside the Wall Street business in Winnipeg that was connected to Herntier. It matched Boulanger’s. Police also obtained DNA from the tape that was used in the bags covering the victim’s body.

Jurors previously heard how the victim (born David Joseph Boulanger) attended a Take Back the Night march, only to disappear hours later.

The 28-year-old, who went by the name Divas B, was last seen getting into a white truck at the corner of Sutherland Avenue and Main Street on Sept. 30, 2004.

An autopsy revealed she had been brutally beaten, suffering at least nine distinct blows to the head. Toxicology reports showed Boulanger would have been severely impaired at the time of death, perhaps as much as four times over the legal limit for driving a motor vehicle.

The trial continues.

www.mikeoncrime.com