Undercover officers in 'Mr. Big' sting spent months befriending accused in 2007 Manitoba killing: court docs
CBC
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.
Details of the sting are laid out in search warrant documents obtained from court by CBC News.
The efforts ultimately led to a second-degree murder charge in early 2024 against Queau, a B.C. resident, in the 2007 killing of Crystal Saunders, a Métis woman whose body was found in a southern Manitoba community.
Getting to the sting was a long and winding road.
Years before the charges were laid, police knew Queau was a one in 2.4 trillion match for DNA found on Saunders's neck.
In 2014, Queau's DNA had been entered into an RCMP database while under investigation for sexual assault involving choking in B.C.
He was later sentenced to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting one woman and assaulting another.
In 2019, police started digging into him again, doing analysis on Saunders's fingernails — which also came back positive for DNA matching Queau, though they also found other men's DNA.
But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, shutting down public gatherings and outings, which potentially slowed plans for a sting operation.
RCMP renewed their focus on the case in 2023, and sought judicial authorization to place a wiretap on Queau's phone.
They also devised a sophisticated Mr. Big sting operation — a controversial technique where undercover officers befriend a suspect.
In an affidavit filed in the case, an RCMP officer outlines the goal of the sting — getting Queau comfortable enough to talk about Saunders's death and his potential involvement in it.
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