Article content continued

Photo by Stuart Gradon / Postmedia

“Information came forward that was not known in 2002 to 2005. As that information was received by the Calgary Police Service, it was evaluated for its veracity, placed in the file that was evaluated by the cold case homicide detectives,” said Acting Staff Sgt. Ken Carriere with the Calgary police.

The children, two of whom are adults, are living in a safe place, said Carriere.

Kenneth Dauphinais is charged with second-degree murder and is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

The cold case investigation spanned the country. Police resources within the RCMP and others in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Saskatoon were involved in the investigation.

“The challenge for cold case investigators is actually tracking down witnesses, interviewing them and getting the necessary information . . . Witnesses, suspects, persons of interest, they spread out over the country,” said Carriere.

Carriere said there are two full-time investigators, an analyst and a civilian member who work on nearly 100 Calgary police cold case files dating back to the late-1910s.

The longer they go on, the more difficult they become, said Carriere.

“It’s a challenge,” he said.

“There is a lot of work for them to do as they get new information from the public. It often assists the investigations that have taken place in the past and almost brings them to the point where they can now be reinvestigated.

“It takes a lot of time and effort to re-evaluate those old investigations, determine if they are still viable based on whether witnesses are still alive, if suspects are still alive.”

This is the second 16-year-old cold case cracked by RCMP.

Stephane Parent, 49, was arrested in February in relation to the murder of his then-girlfriend and co-worker Adrienne McColl.

McColl was found by a rancher in a field on Feb. 17, 2002, roughly 85 kilometres south of Calgary three days after she went missing.

Carriere urges those who believe they have information about a cold case to contact the Calgary police.

zlaing@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @zjlaing