A 13-year-old boy from Thompson is facing a second-degree murder charge after being arrested by Thompson RCMP in connection with the killing of 37-year-old Bernard Hart from Oxford House First Nation.
Hart had been reported missing on June 6 and a missing person investigation revealed he had last been see in the city of Thompson on June 4. Hart's remains were discovered by a civilian search team in a wooded area on the east side of Thompson just off a hydro power line on July 8, but a post-mortem examination was unable to determine the cause of death. After further investigation the RCMP declared that the death was indeed a homicide.
Hart's remains were exhumed on Oxford House First Nation on Oct. 22 by the RCMP to conduct further forensic examinations under the authority of an exhumation order from Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, the chief medical examiner of the Province of Manitoba.
On Oct. 24, a second post-mortem examination took place at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre with help from a forensic anthropologist. The findings at the post- mortem confirmed the fact that Hart was murdered, police said, and his remains were returned to Oxford House for reburial.
The 13-year-old boy was arrested Dec. 16 and will be appearing in Thompson provincial court on a date that hasn't been determined yet. The RCMP D division serious crime unit and the RCMP Thompson major crime unit are continuing to investigate the incident and further arrests are pending.
Anyone with information about the murder of Hart is asked to contact the Thompson RCMP at 677-6909 or Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
