(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Crime

Sask. RCMP respond to trio of murder investigations

Feb 6, 2024 | 3:08 PM

As the investigations continue into three separate murders this month in Saskatchewan, the province’s RCMP note the cluster of homicides will stretch its resources.

The said, the incidents occurred between the afternoon of Feb. 1, and the evening of Feb. 2, and involved the communities of Loon Lake, Deschambault Lake and North Battleford.

The three victims range in age from 21 to 32 years old.

“Homicide clusters like the one that we saw last week are not an abnormality in Saskatchewan.” Supt. Joshua Graham, officer in charge of Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes, said in a statement.

In 2023, there were five separate occasions where the Major Crimes teams deployed to two to three homicides that occurred in less than 48 hours.

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In addition to the three murders last week, two others have occurred in the province since Jan. 18, totaling five homicide investigations since the new year began. Among those investigations was an incident at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary.

Rocky Meechance was, according to family, on the phone talking to his wife when he was attacked and a total of six inmates have since been charged. Court dates are still pending.

In their statement, the RCMP explained that when homicides occur in a cluster, there is extensive pressure put on the Major Crimes team members and the Major Crime Branch as a whole.

And in addition to the homicide investigations in the last week where Major Crimes was deployed, RCMP also provided support, assisted or deployed to four other serious incident investigations.

“Consistently high homicide rates and clusters of new homicides like this stretch our resources and take our investigators away from existing and historical homicides investigations,” Supt. Graham said, further noting the Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes has not added resources since 2018.

“The increased volume of investigations takes a significant toll on our investigators, whose dedication, resiliency and undeniable expertise contribute to finding answers, solving homicides and giving the families of victims closure.”

With respect to last week’s murders, charges have only been laid in connection to the incident at Deschambault Lake.

The RCMP noted their Major Crimes unit, in collaboration with other Saskatchewan RCMP resources, have laid charges in 84 per cent of homicides investigated since 2015.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell