Police have arrested yet another suspect in the homicide case of Bernard Hart of Oxford House First Nation. A 17-year-old male from Nelson House has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder and was set to make his first court appearance in Thompson on Feb. 12.
On Feb. 4, 20-year-old Skylar Spence of Leaf Raids was arrested at Stony Mountain Institution while serving a sentence on unrelated matters and charged with second-degree murder, and on Jan. 19, 20-year-old Raymond Jeremy McDonald from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation at Nelson House was arrested in similar circumstances at the Brandon Correctional Centre and charged with second-degree murder as well. On Dec. 17 RCMP arrested and charged a 13-year-old Thompson boy with second-degree murder in relation to Hart's death.
Hart was reported missing on June 6 last year. He had last been seen in Thompson on June 4, and on July 8 his remains were found in a wooded area on the east side of Thompson. A post-mortem determined the cause of death to be undetermined but after further investigation RCMP ruled the incident a homicide. On Oct. 22 RCMP attended Oxford House Nation and exhumed the remains of Hart in order to conduct further forensic investigations. On Oct. 24, a second post-mortem took place at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre with the assistance of a forensic anthropologist. The details of the exam were not released, but RCMP continued to investigate the death as a homicide.
The RCMP serious crime unit from Winnipeg, along with the Thompson major crime unit and Thompson RCMP detachment are continuing with their investigations. RCMP are also requesting that anyone with information on the murder of Hart to call the Thompson RCMP at 677-6909 or Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
