Undercover officers in 'Mr. Big' sting spent months befriending accused in 2007 Manitoba killing: court docs
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
At least 18 RCMP officers spent more than seven months on an elaborate "Mr. Big" sting operation that involved getting close to the suspect in an MMIWG cold case murder through going to Canucks games and skydiving, and staging a fake crime scene.
Undercover officers posing as a tight-knit group hung out at Kevin Queau's favourite sports pub in Vancouver to get chummy with him, then slowly invited him into their activities until he was helping them move locked briefcases and cleaning up a hotel room staged to look like something violent had occurred.
Details of the sting are laid out in search warrant documents obtained from court by CBC News.
The efforts ultimately led to a second-degree murder charge in early 2024 against Queau, a B.C. resident, in the 2007 killing of Crystal Saunders, a Métis woman whose body was found in a southern Manitoba community.
Getting to the sting was a long and winding road.
Years before the charges were laid, police knew Queau was a one in 2.4 trillion match for DNA found on Saunders's neck.
In 2014, Queau's DNA had been entered into an RCMP database while under investigation for sexual assault involving choking in B.C.
He was later sentenced to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting one woman and assaulting another.
In 2019, police started digging into him again, doing analysis on Saunders's fingernails — which also came back positive for DNA matching Queau, though they also found other men's DNA.
But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, shutting down public gatherings and outings, which potentially slowed plans for a sting operation.
RCMP renewed their focus on the case in 2023, and sought judicial authorization to place a wiretap on Queau's phone.
They also devised a sophisticated Mr. Big sting operation — a controversial technique where undercover officers befriend a suspect.
In an affidavit filed in the case, an RCMP officer outlines the goal of the sting — getting Queau comfortable enough to talk about Saunders's death and his potential involvement in it.
All public schools on P.E.I. are closed Friday and thousands of Maritime Electric customers are without power as strong winds create hazardous travel conditions across the province.
Prince Rupert, B.C., residents are celebrating the holidays this year with coastal flair.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.
Acute Care Alberta has extended its contract for another year with a private surgical facility at the centre of probes into health procurement and contracting.
As food bank use continues to climb across the province, front-line workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., are working to improve both food security and education.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.
The driver wanted in connection with a fatal hit and run on Highway 401 earlier this week has been identified, police say.
There are mixed feelings about the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, among people who live in nearby communities.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse and includes graphic content.
Provincial police in Lambton County have charged a 23-year-old man with second degree murder following a death investigation that began this past Saturday.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is forming a working group to tackle what it calls systemic issues in the justice system, but answers or solutions could still be months away.
A woman has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2024 fatal hit and run in Truro, N.S., where the victim was dragged down the street, a case that went unsolved for more than six months.