Triple homicide at rural home not murder-suicide: Edson RCMP
A McDonald's cashier who was among three homicide victims found in a rural home outside Edson talked constantly about her children, those who worked with her say.
Friends and family have identified two of the victims as Roxanne Berube and Dan Miller.
Sylvia Standing said Monday that Berube, her goddaughter, was 36 and had five children.
When Berube, Miller and the third victim, a teenage girl, were found dead Sunday, their bodies showed "obvious signs of trauma," Edson RCMP say.
Their deaths are being treated as homicides and not as a murder-suicide.
"She was a nice, friendly girl," said Stephanie Heathcote, who worked with Berube at a McDonald's restaurant in Edson. "She always talked about her kids, lots."
"She was always happy," said Devon Campbell, who also worked at the fast-food outlet. "I just really got to know her a week ago, and then this happened."
'Call for assistance'
Mounties arrived at the home on Sunday afternoon after receiving a "call for assistance," said Insp. Gibson Glavin.
Police did not say whether the victims were related to each other, but said all three lived in the home. Their names have not been officially released by police.
The call for assistance came from outside the house, but Glavin would not say who called or where the call came from.
"I will emphasize, this is not a murder-suicide," Glavin said at a news conference Monday.
While police have no suspects, Glavin said, RCMP do not believe the public is at risk.
"However, until we have someone who has been arrested ... we do urge the public to be cautious, to be aware of people or circumstances that might cause them to believe that they have some knowledge, some connection with this homicide investigation."
Glavin asked people to let the police do their job.
"This is early in a serious and very complicated investigation," he said.
He said investigators are "pursuing lines of inquiry" while waiting for autopsy results, adding they hope to talk with people who knew the victims.
"Any time you have an incident like this, especially with three people, it kind of sends chills through the community," said Greg Pasychny, mayor of the town about 200 kilometres west of Edmonton. "This is an isolated incident in one location. It's not like someone was going on a rampage or anything.
"It's a sad thing to say, but this isn't the first time we've had a major incident in our area."
Heathcote said word of the killings spread quickly through Edson on Monday, and now people are looking for answers.
"What happened is what we all want to know. Just how it happened and why."
