Four people face charges in death of Matthew Penney

CTV Atlantic: Charges laid in Penney homicide Four people are facing charges in connection with the murder of a Dartmouth man whose burnt remains were found at a provincial park.

Four people are facing charges in connection with the murder of a Dartmouth man whose burnt remains were found at a provincial park on New Year’s Day.

Officers executed search warrants at homes on Bras’dor Lane and Springhill Road in Dartmouth shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday.

Four people were arrested and taken into custody. Police say two men and two women, all from Dartmouth, are facing charges in connection with the death of 26-year-old Matthew Anthony Penney.

Penney’s badly-burned body was found at the entrance to the Oakfield Provincial Park in Grand Lake, N.S. on Jan. 1.

Police say a man was walking his dog in the park when he spotted Penney’s remains. Investigators have ruled his death a homicide.

Tyler Berry, 23, is facing charges of manslaughter, criminal negligence, causing death by a firearm, indignant disposal of human remains and public mischief.

Jason Patrick MacKenzie, 27, is facing charges of accessory to manslaughter, accessory to criminal negligence causing death by firearm, indignant disposal of human remains and public mischief.

Keisha Slawter-Vassel, 24, is facing charges of accessory to manslaughter, accessory to criminal negligence causing death by firearm, and public mischief.

Caitlin Fay Thompson, 23, is facing a public mischief charge.

The accused are due to appear in Dartmouth provincial court Friday.

Victim’s mother feared case would never be solved

Jane Penney says she last saw her son alive on New Year’s Eve.

“He was depressed because he broke up with his girlfriend. He loved his girlfriend very much and he was missing his son and her and I wanted to cheer him up, so I told him to go out with his friends, have a good time, get his mind off things,” says Jane Penney.

“Little did I know, I’d never see my son again.”

She says she still remembers their parting words.

“I just remember telling him I loved him, have fun, I’ll see you when you come home.”

Jane Penney has suffered through much grief in her life. In addition to losing her son, she lost her daughter shortly after she was born.

“She was born with a heart disease. She lived for a month and a week. She passed away in my arms.”

Penney says her son’s death has tormented her for months and she was relieved to learn arrests had been made in the case.

She says her own sister was shot to death in Dartmouth’s north end in May 1992 but her murder was never solved. She was worried the same thing would happen to her son.

“I didn’t think it would be solved,” admits Penney. “My sister was murdered a long time ago. It was never solved.”

In addition to arresting four people, police seized a late-model Dodge Charger. Penney says she believes she knows who owns the vehicle and those charged in the case

She also says they knew her son.

“I know who they are, yes…that’s all I can say about that.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Rick Grant