Killarney Guide

Two females face a second-degree murder charge; one male is facing charges of manslaughter, and accessory after the fact to murder

Police have now arrested three individuals in connection to the homicide of a 62-year-old Neepawa man, which occurred last November, in 2017.

One of the three, 34-year-old Denver Henderson of Killarney, was arrested on Wednesday, September 26, 2018.

Henderson has since been charged with Manslaughter, and Accessory After the Fact to Murder.

He was remanded into police custody, and was scheduled to appear in Winnipeg Provincial Court on Friday, September 28.

Molly Siganiec, 21, of Brandon, was also arrested on September 26, 2018, and she was charged with Second Degree Murder.

Siganiec was remanded into custody, and was also scheduled to appear in Winnipeg Provincial Court on Friday, September 28, 2018.

A third individual, Kelsie Lesergent, 20, of Brandon, was also charged with Second Degree Murder, and a warrant had been issued for her arrest.

Lesergent was found and arrested a few days later, on Monday, October 1.

At time of press, no report had been issued to media by the RCMP regarding any changes in the charge laid against her, or a date for Lesergent’s court appearance.

These recent arrests followed what had eventually become an intensive, 10-month-long investigation conducted by the RCMP.

The investigation had been launched after a 62-year-old male was found deceased in his Neepawa home on November 25, 2017.

The death was determined to be a homicide, and investigators from the RCMP’s Major Crimes Unit were called in to assist.

It became a multi-agency task, which eventually spanned all the way from Neepawa, north of the TransCanada Highway, and down into this quiet southwest corner, deep in the Killarney farmlands.

In mid-July, police search teams from Brandon Major Crimes travelled down to the Killarney area, in search of evidence related to the homicide.

Over a number of days they scoured the roadside ditches in two areas: around eight miles west of Highway #18, on the Blixhavn Road (Mile 1 North), and also up on the Wakopa Road (106 West), just north of the Mayfair Hutterite Colony.

The name of the deceased man, whose body was found at his residence near Hwy. 5 North, Neepawa, in the early hours, has not yet been formally released.

Neighbours had reported being awakened at around 3 a.m. to the sound of police officers knocking loudly on their doors, according to newspaper reports at the time.

The connection between the Neepawa victim, and residents living south of Killarney, in the farming district next to the U.S. border, is yet to be revealed.

And what may have been found in the deep weeds, back during those hot, windy July days, is not likely to turn up until a trial date is set for the accused, and evidence is produced for the court.

RCMP SEARCHERS SCOUR WAKOPA ROADSIDE – Teams of police searchers were busy in July in the area south of Killarney, seeking evidence related to a 2017 homicide in Neepawa. This team, led by Constable Woytkiw of Brandon major crimes (far right), was wading through the deep and grassy ditches north of the Mayfair Colony on Wakopa Road. See killarneyguide.ca for more.

EVIDENCE SOUGHT IN 2017 NEEPAWA MURDER – Members of the Brandon major crimes unit were on the scene south of Killarney, conducting an ongoing criminal investigation into the November 2017 murder of a Neepawa man. The RCMP will continue to be working in the rural area, they said in July, as they searched for evidence related to the crime.

Major crimes unit members search along Blixhavn Road, near the Canada – U.S. border.

Blixhavn Road, south of Killarney.

From The Killarney Guide: July 13, 2018

Police searching rural Killarney for evidence connected to homicide

BY KIM LANGEN

The murder of a Neepawa man back in 2017 has brought a police search team south in order to scour a local area for related evidence.

Over the past couple of weeks RCMP investigators have been conducting inquiries and sweeping the quiet roadside ditches south of Killarney for this unspecified evidence.

On Thursday, July 12, two teams of the searchers – along with a large black search and rescue van – were busy working in two areas south of town: around eight miles west of Hwy. 18 on the Blixhavn Road, (Mile 1 North); and also up on the Wakopa Road (106 West), just north of the Mayfair Hutterite Colony.

Constable Woytkiw of Brandon major crimes was in charge of the Wakopa Road group of eight searchers on that sunny, windy day.

“This is our fourth day out here,” he said. “We are searching for evidence related to a 2017 event in Neepawa. We know this community has lots of questions, and you can let them know we are not looking for a missing person or for a body – just evidence. We will be in the area for a while yet; I can’t say how long.”

Few details are being made available to the public or the press at this time, as the investigation continues, said RCMP media relations officer in Winnipeg, Tara Seel.

“Officers are in the area south of Killarney, conducting a search in relation to a homicide in the Neepawa area in 2017,” she said.

The RCMP are assuring the community that there is no risk of danger to them, despite the recent and unusual police presence in the quiet farmland district, and the flurry of black cars and vans moving in and around the area just one mile north of the U.S. border.

“As this is an active and ongoing homicide investigation, I cannot provide too many details,” said Seel. “I can tell you that there is no concern for public safety. This is a search only. This is not in relation to any other events.”

Police have never formally released the name of the murdered Neepawa man, reportedly in his 60s, whose deceased body was found at a residence near Highway 5 North in the early hours of November 25, 2017.

“We don’t typically identify victims,” said Seel.

Neighbours were awakened at around 3 a.m. to the sound of police officers knocking loudly on their doors, according to newspaper reports at the time.

But how this past crime now relates to people or places in the Killarney area is still unclear.

Police were not able to provide any details on what exactly they are seeking out there in the deep grass and weeds, or who in particular they are investigating, said the press office.

“They are looking for evidence related to the homicide – that’s as much as I can say in regards to this ongoing investigation,” said Seel. “There is nothing people can do to assist police at this time.”