Arrest made in St. Vital double homicide - Action News
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Manitoba

Arrest made in St. Vital double homicide

Winnipeg police have arrested a suspect in the killing of a couple found dead in April in their St. Vital home.
Magdalena and Joel Labossiere are shown in 2007. ((Family photo))
Winnipeg police have arrested a suspect in thekilling ofa couplefound dead in Aprilin their St. Vital home.

Joel Labossiere, 34, and his wife, Magdalena, 33, were found in their Chokecherry Cove home on April 20 by a neighbour who heard the unattended cries of their baby and called police. Both had suffered fatal gunshot wounds described as "execution-style."

Kelly John Clarke, 38, was arrested around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, police said.He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Winnipeg police spokeswoman Const.Jacqueline Chaput said Clarke was a co-worker of Joel Labossiere's uncle, Denis Jerome Labossiere, who was recently charged with first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of his parents and brother.

Joel Labossiere's grandparentsFernand Labossiere, 78, and his wife, Rita and their son Remi, 44, were found dead in their home in St. Leon, Man., after a fire in 2005. It was later determined they had been shot.

A 22-year-old B.C. man and a 21-year-old man from Winnipeg were also charged in connection with the St. Leon deaths. The three men each face three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of conspiracy to commit murder.

At the time the charges were laid in the St. Leon deaths, police said they were investigating whether the triple homicide was connected in any way to the St. Vital deaths.

RoseMarie Labossiere, who is Joel's mother and Denis Jerome's sister, said she wasshocked tolearn the suspect in her son and daughter-in-law's slayings was connected to her brother.She said she does not know Clarke, and does not believe Joel knew him, either.

She said she believes news of the arrests will come as a relief to the community.

"That will ease off the tension that was happening and it's with the community, too,[because] we still didn't really know if there was still danger out there," she said.

The one-year-old who was found in the house after the St. Vital slayings is reportedly living with Magdalena Labossiere's family.