3 charged with first-degree murder in connection with remains found in burned Bay Roberts truck

RCMP in eastern Newfoundland have arrested and charged three people in connection with a homicide in Bay Roberts, in which a body was found in a pickup truck that had been set on fire.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jolene Garland said that Matthew Kavanagh, 41, Terry Cole, 34, and Stephanie Noftall, 28, have been each charged with first-degree murder as well as indignity to human remains.

The accused are in custody and will appear in a Harbour Grave court on Monday.

The victim, whom police are not identifying, was a 42-year-old man from Spaniard's Bay.

The human remains were found last week inside a pickup on a dirt road in Bay Roberts, along Newfoundland's Conception Bay.

The pickup, a blue 2021 Chevrolet Colorado, was discovered in flames the morning of Sept. 30 on Country Road. 

Last week the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner deemed the death as suspicious.

On Saturday evening, the RCMP's major crimes unit — as well as an emergency response team, a dog unit, explosives experts and other officers — surrounded a home on Gardner Place in Harbour Grace.  

"After a number of hours," a police statement said, "three individuals were arrested …without further incident." 

Police say the homicide was a targeted attack but have not stated a possible motive — though they say there was an element of "substance abuse" related to the crime.

Police do not believe organized crime is involved in the man's death.

The police are looking for a four-door 2012 brownish-grey Honda Civic as part of their ongoing investigation. 

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