Raymond Cormier, who was suspected of killing Tina Fontaine, has reportedly been found dead in Kenora, Ont. Photo: APTN file
Raymond Joseph Cormier has been arrested by Ottawa police for allegedly breaking into several apartment buildings since January.
Police allege Cormier “targeted apartments, parking garages, mail and storage rooms” across four different locations in the downtown area.
Cormier, 59, was arrested March 16, according to court records, and appeared in court Friday morning for a bail hearing. APTN News was not able to immediately confirm if Cormier was released from custody.
It’s unknown how long Cormier had been living in Ottawa, but at the time of his arrest he was living at a local shelter, according to records.
Police said surveillance videos and DNA evidence from a crime scene led to Cormier.
Tina Fontaine’s body was found in Winnipeg’s Red River on Aug. 17, 2014. It was wrapped in a duvet and weighed down by rocks. She had been in child protective services at the time of her death.
Fontaine’s murder sparked a massive outcry across the country about the fate of too many Indigenous women and girls, which eventually led to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Cormier was charged with second-degree murder on Dec. 8, 2015 by Winnipeg police.
He pleaded not guilty maintaining he didn’t kill the teen and was eventually acquitted. Winnipeg police were criticized, before and after the trial, for its handling of the case.
Fontaine’s murder remains unsolved.
