Two charged in Victoria Beach double homicide: Manitoba RCMP

RCMP have arrested two people in connection with a double homicide in a Manitoba. Daniel Halmarson reports.

Two people have been charged following a double homicide in a Manitoba cottage community this summer.

A 28-year-old man from Grand Marias and a 31-year-old man from the R.M. of St. Clement were arrested at opposite ends of the country in connection with the shooting deaths of a man and a woman in Victoria Beach on June 20.

“These homicides have deeply affected two grieving families, countless loved ones, and created concerns for so many residents in the Victoria Beach area,” said Staff Sgt. Sean Grunewald with the Manitoba RCMP Major Crime Services.

RCMP identified the victims as Sly Thibert, a 29-year-old Winnipeg man, and Melissa Wilson, a 41-year-old Victoria Beach woman. Their bodies were found at a property on Hampton Road, and RCMP confirmed they died from gunshot wounds.

Grunewald said the suspects involved fled the area, with one travelling to British Columbia and the other travelling to Nova Scotia. Mitchell Johanson, 28, was arrested in Abbotsford, B.C., on Oct. 7 and Nathoniel More-Harrison, 31, was arrested in New Minas, N.S., on Wednesday.

Both have been charged with second-degree murder and are in custody. Johanson has been returned to Manitoba from B.C., while the process to return More-Harrison to Manitoba is ongoing.

The charges against both men have not been proven in court.

“I can say that the suspects and victims were known to each other, and at this time, we believe the male victim was targeted by the suspects, and the female victim was killed for being at the specific residence in Victoria Beach when the suspects, arrived,” Grunewald said.

Grunewald said RCMP are still investigating.

-With files from CTV’s Kayla Rosen