The RCMP logo is seen outside the force's 'E' division headquarters in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. Police have charged a man in the slaying of a woman in Edmonton almost 27 years ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The RCMP logo is seen outside the force's 'E' division headquarters in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. Police have charged a man in the slaying of a woman in Edmonton almost 27 years ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
EDMONTON - Police have charged a man in the slaying of a woman in Edmonton almost three decades ago.
Officers were called to the apartment of 24-year-old Joanne Ghostkeeper on Christmas Day 1996.
An autopsy determined she died by strangulation.
Investigators could not find a confirmed match to a suspect, despite forensically testing numerous exhibits over the years.
Last October, the RCMP forensic lab re-examined the exhibits and generated a male DNA profile.
Braydan Boucher, who is 48, was arrested last week and charged with first-degree murder.
Boucher was 22 at the time Ghostkeeper was killed and the two knew each other, police said in a release Thursday.
"Our hearts go out to Joanne’s family and friends. This was a tragic file that has plagued them with grief and unanswered questions for 27 years," Det. Kevin Harrison said in the release.
"Thanks to the tenacity of the forensic specialists at the RCMP lab and the EPS investigative team, we have at long last been able to provide some answers to those questions, and hopefully some degree of closure for her loved ones."
Boucher’s DNA profile has been added to the national databank, and will be referenced against other historical forensic files, police said.
This report by ºÃÉ«tvwas first published June 22, 2023.
