RCMP charge Sask. man with murder in Lloydminster killings of father, 2 sons
Brent Peters, sons Brennan and Matthew found shot to death inside a home Sept. 11
A 31-year-old Saskatchewan man has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder in last September's shooting deaths of a father and his two adult sons in Lloydminster, Sask.
RCMP announced the charges at a news conference in Lloydminster on Monday.
Nakota Rayne Pooyak, a resident of Sweetgrass First Nation, was arrested and charged on Jan. 18, Insp. Dean Riou of the K Division Serious Crimes Branch said at the news conference.
"Since the beginning of this investigation, we have been committed to uncovering an accurate and fulsome account of the murders and bringing those responsible to justice," Riou said.
"This investigation involved countless hours of meticulous and tenacious work, as well as collaboration with other RCMP and municipal police agencies.
"Today we are here to announce that an individual has been arrested and charged with the murders of Brent, Matthew and Brennan Peters."
Brent Peters, 66, and his sons Brennan, 34, and Matthew, 32, were found dead inside a home in the border city on Sept. 11.
Their bodies were found after officers were called to conduct a wellness check at a bungalow in the area of 50th Street and 47th Avenue, a few blocks east of the Alberta-Saskatchewan border that runs through the city's core.
All three had been killed by gunshots.
Pooyak was arrested at the Saskatchewan Correctional Centre in Saskatoon, where has been in custody since Sept. 16 on unrelated charges, Riou said.
He was scheduled to appear Monday in Saskatchewan provincial court in Lloydminster.
At the time of the killings, RCMP said investigators believed the killings were targeted and that the crime was isolated.
On Monday, Riou declined to answer questions about a possible motive for the crime.
He said investigators identified a man who had been an accomplice to Pooyak, but the man has since died.
"The death was non-criminal, so I won't be speaking to it," Riou said.
Mary-Anne Parkhurst, a cousin to the victims, said her large family has had a difficult time dealing with the deaths over the past few months.
"We're finally getting some closure, at last, I guess," Parkhurst told CBC in an interview Monday after the charges were announced.
"Everyone's been asking who killed them and what happened ... We just want to know what happened."
She said losing three family members killed in a single incident has made it harder to understand.
Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers thanked the RCMP for their work in investigating the deaths and bringing charges against the accused.
"We remain a very strong and resilient community. This isolated incident does not define us, nor does it detract us from our belief that Lloydminster is a safe place to welcome and call home," Aalbers said at the news conference.
With files from Wallis Snowdon