1st-degree murder charge laid in death of Sask. RCMP officer
CBC
The charges against two people arrested in the June death of a Saskatchewan police officer have been upgraded, RCMP said Friday, and now include a charge of first-degree murder for one of the people.
Indian Head RCMP Const. Shelby Patton was killed on duty on June 12, 2021, while conducting a traffic stop in Wolseley, a town east of Regina. The vehicle he had stopped — a truck stolen in Manitoba — struck and killed the 26-year-old officer, according to police.
Two people from Winnipeg were arrested and initially charged with manslaughter. Those charges have now been withdrawn and replaced, RCMP say.
After further investigation and consultation with prosecutors, one of the two suspects, Alphonse Stanley Traverse, 42, is now charged with one count of first-degree murder, Saskatchewan RCMP said in a news release Friday.
The second arrested person, Marlene Velma Louise Pagee, 43, now faces one count of accessory after the fact to murder.
"Time continues to pass, but we will not forget the ultimate sacrifice of our friend and colleague, Const. Patton," assistant commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, said in the media release.
Traverse and Pagee were also initially charged with failure to stop after an accident resulting in death, theft of a motor vehicle and possession of stolen property over $5,000.
Those charges remain before the courts and both people have remained in custody since their arrests, RCMP said.
Traverse appeared in Regina provincial court on Friday morning. Pagee is scheduled to appear at 2 p.m.
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