Homicide detectives have issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant for a 49-year-old man wanted in connection with the death of a woman found strangled in a northeast Edmonton apartment suite last week.
Gregory Christopher Tessman, 49, faces a charge of second-degree murder for the death of Valerie Maurice.
Tessman was known to police.
Maurice, 29, was found dead in an apartment suite in the area of of 144th Avenue and 88A Street on Aug. 31. Police believe she went to the home on Tuesday, Aug. 29, around midnight.
Maurice appeared to move between Edmonton and Montreal. A friend from Montreal said Maurice had started to distance herself from friends and had started contacting them less frequently.
Valérie Maurice, 29, was from Montréal. (Facebook)
“She was very secretive about her life,” the friend told CBC Montreal on Sunday. CBC News has agreed to hide her identity because she fears for her safety.
“We tell her, this can be dangerous. But she doesn’t listen [to] us.”
A day before Maurice’s body was found, her friends posted messages on Facebook saying they hadn’t heard from her and were worried.
The friend said Maurice used to live with a man with whom she often travelled to Edmonton.
“She had a very good heart,” the friend said. “She was very funny. She was generous. She loved animals.”
Maurice would have celebrated her 30th birthday on Labour Day.