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Third person charged with second-degree murder in Bernard Hart death

A third person has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 37-year-old Bernard Hart of Oxford House First Nation. On Feb.

A third person has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 37-year-old Bernard Hart of Oxford House First Nation. On Feb. 3, 20-year-old Skylar Spence of Leaf Rapids was arrested at Stony Mountain Institution while serving a sentence on unrelated matters and charged with second-degree murder in connection to Hart's death.

On Jan. 19, 20-year-old Raymond Jeremy McDonald from Nelson House First nation was arrested while in the Brandon Correctional Centre on unrelated matters and also charged with second degree murder in the case. And on Dec. 17, a 13-year-old Thompson male was arrested and charged with second degree murder as well.

Hart was reported missing to RCMP on June 6 of last year. A missing persons report determined that he had last been seen in Thompson two days prior. On July 8, Hart's remains were found in a wooded area off the east side of Thompson. A post-mortem performed at the time was not successful in determining the cause of death, but RCMP did rule the incident a homicide after further investigation.

RCMP attended Oxford House First Nation to exhume Hart's remains on Oct. 22. Further forensic examinations, with the help of a forensic anthropologist at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, proved Hart's death was indeed a homicide.

A court date for the suspects in question has yet to be set. The RCMP serious crime unit from Winnipeg, the Thompson major crime unit and the Thompson RCMP detachment are continuing to investigate the matter.

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