Slaying probe relied on sting

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This article was published 14/02/2004 (8088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MANITOBA RCMP used an elaborate undercover sting operation as part of their investigation into a missing person mystery that culminated with yesterday’s discovery of the body of Erin Chorney inside another person’s gravesite.

The four-month police scheme involved setting up a bogus contest — offering tickets to a Calgary Flames hockey game — that was rigged so that the winner was a man whom they suspected of killing Chorney, justice sources told the Free Press yesterday.

The suspect was flown to Alberta late last year and eventually introduced to plainclothes police officers posing as members of a criminal network who gained the man’s trust, sources say.

The ploy is similar to controversial stings used by RCMP in two other high-profile murder cases in recent Manitoba history, although sources say this one was more intricate and extensive.

The 19-year-old Brandon woman disappeared nearly two years ago.

The investigation came to a head recently when police learned Erin’s body had been buried in someone else’s grave at the Brandon city cemetery, likely right after she went missing in April 2002.

Police believe the young woman was choked, strangled with a cord and then submerged in a bathtub inside a Brandon home. Her official cause of death won’t be revealed until medical officials conduct an autopsy. Chorney’s body was then taken to the cemetery, where a recently covered gravesite was dug up. Her body was then dumped on top of the coffin and covered with soil, according to sources.

The cemetery has been the subject of many rumours during the two-year search for Erin.

Brandon police had previously told her family they hadn’t found anything during searches of the site.

Police first began digging on Wednesday night, accompanied by Manitoba’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra.

Police managed to get deep enough into the frozen, snow-covered ground to uncover a sheet with Erin’s body wrapped inside.

Balachandra confirmed her death and police began the grisly task of thawing the ground to allow them to remove Erin’s body. The process began Thursday and continued until her body was taken out about 4 p.m. yesterday.

“Conditions played a role in it, but they were being very careful not to disturb the scene and were looking for forensic evidence,” Brandon police Sgt. Rick Semler said yesterday.

Police set up a large tent over the gravesite to conceal their work from prying eyes.

“The little bit of hope we had left is now gone,” a tearful Carla Dejong said yesterday. She was best friends with Erin and one of the last people to see her alive.

She watched yesterday as police continued their work at the cemetery, located on the southeast corner of the city near the Crocus Plains High School.

Police had long suspected Erin was a murder victim and not a runaway. No suspects were ever named publicly, although police did execute a search warrant at a man’s house last year and seized several items.

Police also made public requests for the author of an anonymous letter sent to the Chorney family last year to step forward.

Police said the letter was “suspicious” and contained information about Erin’s case, but didn’t release further details. Police said last week the author was never located.

“I guess finding her now is better then having to wait another 10 years,” Dejong said yesterday.

News of Erin’s death has sent shockwaves through Manitoba’s second-largest city. Erin is survived by her parents, Darcy and Debbie, her 18-year-old brother, Ryan, and her sister, Leslie, 10.

Mike Bridges, 23, a longtime city resident, has been charged with second-degree murder. He was arrested Thursday in a Winnipeg hotel and his first appearance in Brandon court yesterday was waived.

His case was adjourned until next month. Bridges remains in custody.

Crown attorney Bob Morrison said it’s possible the charges could be upgraded or new charges added, based on autopsy results and other evidence that may emerge.

Bridges, who lives with his mother and younger brother, briefly dated Erin in the months before her disappearance.

Police, friends and family of Erin say she went to visit Bridges the night she vanished in order to retrieve some clothes.

Bridges’ lawyer, Greg Brodsky, told the Free Press Thursday night there may be issues arising out of his client’s arrest that result in legal challenges.

A murder case was thrown out of Brandon court in September 2000 after a judge found major problems with an RCMP sting operation used against the alleged killer.

Justice Alan MacInnes said it would be unsafe to convict Clayton George Mentuck of killing Rossburn teen Amanda Cook because his confessions to undercover officers were made after an “overpowering” level of inducement.

The Free Press won a landmark Supreme Court battle in 2002 that lifted the ban on reporting details of the RCMP undercover operation.

In the Mentuck case, police officers posed as members of a mysterious criminal organization that quickly drew in Mentuck, lavishing him with cash, clothes and other gifts.

A similar sting was used against Thomas Griffin, who was accused of a 1979 murder but not arrested until 1997 by the RCMP “cold case” unit.

Griffin was eventually convicted in 2001 of second-degree murder, based largely on his confessions to the undercover police officers. The judge allowed the evidence to be used against Griffin, despite concerns police got him drunk before he admitted to the slaying.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca