CANADA Crystal Shannon Saunders, 24, Winnipeg, 18 April 2007 *Fresh Initiative*

[dotr]

April 16 2019
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/crystal-saunders-project-devote-1.5099739

"A Manitoba task force is asking people who have information about a woman found dead near St. Ambroise 12 years ago to come forward.

Crystal Shannon Saunders, a member of the Sagkeeng First Nation, was 24 when she was last seen in the late evening hours of April 18, 2007, in Winnipeg's West End.

Her body was found the next day near St. Ambroise, Man., about 80 kilometres northwest of the city.

Project Devote, Manitoba's task force for missing and murdered exploited persons, is asking for the public's help to get more information."

 

[dotr]

RCMP put 2007 cold case back in spotlight
By: Geralyn Wichers
Posted: 04/16/2019
"RCMP will be in St. Ambroise this week, seeking for information related to the 12-year investigation into the death of Crystal Saunders.

Saunders was last seen alive on April 18, 2007 in Winnipeg's West End. The next day, a trapper found her body in a ditch near St. Ambroise, a small community about 100 kilometres northwest of the city."


Crystal Saunders, 24, was last seen on April 18, 2007 in Winnipeg's West End. Her body was found the next day in near St. Ambroise. (Police handout)

"In a release Tuesday, RCMP asked for the public's help on the cold case. Project Devote, which investigates cases of missing and murdered women, is investigating.

"Investigators believe that the public may have information that could assist in bringing this case to a successful conclusion, and are asking the public to report anything, no matter how insignificant they think it may be, to police," Cpl. Julie Courchaine told the Free Press."

n 2007, Sandra Saunders, told the Free Press her daughter was afraid for her life.

"She said she was being threatened — 'They know I'm here, they know I'm around,'" she said. "She was so high, I didn't take it seriously."

"She said she last saw Saunders getting into a car on Isabel Street the day before her death.

Her mother remembered Saunders as a bright, happy child who loved music, dancing and math. "She got caught up with the wrong people. She got addicted to crack. That's what brought her to the streets."

Police ask anyone with information to contact Project Devote at 1-888-673-3316 or Manitoba Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-847."

 

[BlueJayBirdie]

B.C. man charged with 2nd-degree murder for 2007 killing of Crystal Saunders​

Kevin Charles Queau, 42, is in custody in B.C., will be transported to Winnipeg: RCMP​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/mani...icide-investigation-news-conference-1.7097933


"Queau is originally from Winnipeg, where he attended high school and post-secondary school. He has also frequented areas in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C., Lasson said."

 

[dotr]

DNA leads to second-degree murder charge in 2007 death of Manitoba woman Crystal Saunders

A Vancouver man been charged in connection with a nearly 17-year-old homicide investigation into the death of a Manitoba woman.

winnipeg.ctvnews.ca

Crystal Shannon Saunders. (Source: Manitoba RCMP)

 

[BlueJayBirdie]

This report says that although there was a DNA hit in the system years ago, investigators needed "evidence beyond the DNA, that's what took so long. The DNA just pointed them in the right direction"

 

[dotr]

''jan 29, 2024 #GlobalNews #CrimeBeat #Crime
WARNING: This story contains violent details some readers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised. Chrystal Saunders was 24 when she went missing in Winnipeg in April 2007. The following day, her body was discovered 100 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg near St. Ambroise, Man. Nearly 17 years later, investigators charged 42-year-old Kevin Charles Queau, now living in the Vancouver area, with second-degree murder. Superintendent Rob Lasson said on Monday that Saunders' body was discovered by an off-duty RCMP officer, who had the training to preserve the scene and forensic evidence. Advancements in DNA technology, police said, played a key role in the arrest and in linking Queau — whose DNA was in the national system due to previous criminal convictions — to the murder. Lasson said this case is an example of the exhaustive efforts RCMP investigators put into solving murders, but the good news of the arrest all these years later won’t bring the victim back. “Crystal was a mother, a daughter and a friend to many that needlessly lost her life to violent crime. I want to express our sincere condolences to all of Crystal’s friends and family for your tragic loss. She was exploited and had issues with addictions. Unfortunately, Crystal was a vulnerable person and someone took advantage of that. We now have that person in custody,” Lasson said.''

 

[dotr]

rbbm, lengthy Feb 1 2024

Feb 2024: Cold-case homicide victim’s brother relieved her suspected killer arrested

As years passed and the trail seemed to go cold, Joe Saunders never thought he’d see the day a suspect would be arrested in the 2007 slaying of his younger sister. He had mixed emotions when Manitoba...

www.winnipegfreepress.com

“He was able to live his life and have a family, whereas my little sister didn’t. Her life was taken,” Joe Saunders told the Free Press at his Winnipeg home Thursday.''

''A review found “deceptive” and “manipulative” Queau visited escort and dating websites, where he communicated with women, and looked up an alleged sex worker he claimed to be concerned about. Queau had added the person’s family member on social media.

He also failed to report details of his relationship with a woman he proposed to after a few months of dating.

His then-partner “was aware you had been with prostitutes in the past, which you denied,” the document said.
The review found Queau accessed while on statutory release.

“Viewing pornographic material may also elevate attitudes that support violence and the objectification of women as sex objects,” the document said.''

 

[BlueJayBirdie]

This guy has a long history of convictions for a variety of crimes. There might be victims who never reported out of fear, maybe they'll do so now:

Ex-Winnipegger charged in 2007 slaying has history of sexual violence, court records reveal

“He acts cocky and chauvinistic, but it’s clear that he is insecure and uses women and money to prop himself up,” the former friend said. “He was not a good guy and acted like he was above everything and everyone.”

Queau was a different person around his mother, acting loving and “like a child,” said the person, who found the conflicting behaviour to be “bizarre.”

 

[dotr]

Lengthy and informative.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/familial-dna-searches-mmiwg-potential-harms-1.7103170

Ozten Shebahkeget · CBC News · Posted: Feb 04, 2024

''Last week, police arrested Kevin Charles Queau, 42, accused of killing 24-year-old Crystal Saunders in 2007, thanks to advancements in DNA technology in 2014 that helped the Canadian DNA databank link him to a DNA sample found on the woman's body.

Arthur Schafer, an ethics professor at the University of Manitoba, says Queau's arrest shows the national DNA databank can be "really useful in a number of cases," but warns "without rules or regulations, there could also be serious harm."

The RCMP stewards the databank, established in 2000, which holds just over 650,000 DNA samples from crime scenes, as well as profiles of people convicted of certain designated offences, victims of crime, unidentified human remains, volunteers and missing persons and their family members from across Canada.''


''Det. Stephen Smith with Toronto police spoke in favour of familial searches to the Senate last November on behalf of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, saying "the more DNA profiles we have on file, the more chances of a match."

 

[dotr]

Mar 17, 2025 Lengthy, rbbm.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/crystal-saunders-kevin-queau-mr-big-sting-1.7482579

Kevin Queau is shown in a Facebook photo posted in April 2022 having a beer with someone in a spot with palm trees in the background. In early 2024, he was charged with second-degree murder in the 2007 killing of Crystal Saunders. (Kevin Queau/Facebook)
''WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

At least 18 RCMP officers spent more than seven months on an elaborate "Mr. Big" sting operation that involved getting close to the suspect in an MMIWG cold case murder through going to Canucks games and skydiving, and staging a fake crime scene.

Undercover officers posing as a tight-knit group hung out at Kevin Queau's favourite sports pub in Vancouver to get chummy with him, then slowly invited him into their activities until he was helping them move locked briefcases and cleaning up a hotel room staged to look like something violent had occurred. ''

''The last known sighting of Saunders was in Winnipeg's West End on April 18, 2007. That's when a Winnipeg Police Service officer spotted her getting into a red vehicle. ''