The woman found dead inside her Winnipeg home on Tuesday has been identified as Kathleen Leary.
The ID was confirmed by officials with Norway House Cree Nation, which is Leary’s home community. She was recently the executive director for Norway House Cree Nation Health Services.
Leary, a grandmother, was killed inside her home on Cheltenham Cove, in Winnipeg’s Charleswood neighbourhood around 6 p.m. Tuesday.
When police arrived, she was found suffering from injuries to her upper body and later died.
The two-storey home was surrounded by caution tape and remained that way Wednesday as investigators continued to go through the property.
No arrests have been made and no further information is available from police.
Neighbours ‘terrified’
People on the quiet bay want to know if the homicide was targeted or random.
Police on scene at home on Cheltenham Cove on Wednesday. (Holly Caruk/CBC)
“If it’s a target, you feel safer, unfortunately. But if it’s random, you’re terrified,” said Twyla Budz, who lives near Leary’s home.
“We all have kids. We all have families. This is not normal,” Budz said. “I would love to know. I would love to feel safe.”
Budz was not a close friend of Leary but said she would have seen her in the area because “everyone knew everyone.”
Budz said the scene was wild when police first arrived.
The police identification unit arrived at the Cheltenham Cove scene on Wednesday morning. (Holly Caruk/CBC)
“There’s tons of police cruisers and everybody was being told to get back into their houses and lock their doors,” she said. “It was chaos, absolute chaos.”
She said some police cruisers, shortly after arriving, blared their sirens and sped off again.
Budz said she had heard someone had been seen wearing a balaclava and lying in a nearby field at some point Tuesday evening. The person then jumped into a car and someone in the neighbourhood recorded the licence plate number.
Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).
3rd homicide since Saturday
The death is the third homicide in the city since the weekend.
Milton Brian Richard, 35, was found stabbed to death in the West Alexander neighbourhood on Saturday night. No arrests have been made in that case.
A few hours later, at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, the body of 89-year-old Dorothy Dykens was found inside her home in the in St. Boniface neighbourhood.
Melissa Gabriel, 35, has been charged with manslaughter in that case.
