A 27-year-old woman is dead after what local police are calling Estevan's first murder since 2008.
Leslie Erin Dwyre was found dead in her Petterson Drive home April 21 after the Estevan Police Service were notified of an incident at 10:30 that evening. The following morning, the EPS alerted the public of a suspicious sudden death and confirmed last Wednesday that the case was a homicide.
Nathan Mullen, who had been in a relationship with Dwyre, was charged with second-degree murder and made his first appearance in provincial court on Thursday.
EPS Chief Paul Ladouceur said the investigation is ongoing and at this time his department cannot release any of the particulars surrounding Dwyre's murder.
"Anytime there is an investigation like this, leads keep coming in and information still keeps coming in and there is a number of evidentiary items that we have to handle," Ladouceur said.
"Sometimes these investigations can go from weeks to months, although the charges have been laid."
A post mortem was conducted last Wednesday to confirm that Dwyre had been murdered and a follow up autopsy was also carried out. Ladouceur said the autopsy did determine a cause of death, which he did not divulge.
Dwyre, who was originally from Brockville, Ont., had lived in the area for the past couple of years and was a teacher at Hillcrest School. Mullen, 30, is originally from Ottawa and according to his Facebook profile, had been living and working in Estevan for at least two years.
Wearing a brown sweater and handcuffs, Mullen was escorted into the Estevan courthouse last week, where he met with Legal Aid lawyer Robert Grimsrud, who represented him during his first appearance.
Mullen entered the courtroom and took a seat in the jury box. Presiding Judge Karl Bazin read the charge into the record, asking Mullen to stand. He confirmed his identity with a nod when Bazin asked if he was the accused. As the charge was read, Mullen kept his eyes lowered to the floor and said nothing during the proceedings.
Grimsrud asked for the matter to be adjourned until May 8, requesting Mullen be allowed to appear via closed-circuit television from Regina. Mullen was remanded in custody until that time.
A collection of Dwyre's co-workers attended the courthouse to observe the proceedings.
Ladouceur said Mullen and Dwyre had been living together at the time of her death and confirmed the murder was the result of a domestic situation.
"That is always concerning whenever there is a domestic type homicide and in my view it happens too often in this country," said Ladouceur who added it was an isolated incident and that Estevan remains a safe community.
The murder came just one week into Ladouceur's tenure as chief and in a remarkable coincidence, Dwyre had been a resident of the same Brockville community that Ladouceur just moved from.
As the Brockville Recorder and Times first reported, Dwyre is the daughter of Chris Dwyre who is the town's Fire Chief and was a colleague and friend of Ladouceur. In a subsequent article in the Recorder and Times Chris Dwyre described his daughter as a "lovely person" whose ultimate goal was to teach high school.
"She was kind and generous," Dwyre told Ron Zajac of the Recorder and Times.
Ladouceur said this is obviously a difficult time for the Dwyre family. As for his connection, he said it is an unfortunate aspect that comes with being a police officer in a smaller community.
"In Brockville, I had the unpleasurable experience of investigating serious offences that often involved people I knew or relatives of people I knew, the same as I expect will happen here," he said.
"It's part of the job; I'm not going to say it's not difficult at times, but in this position I am in now, I am not hands on. I am running the organization, I am not the lead investigator in the file so that is some assistance without a doubt."
Ladouceur was officially introduced as chief during Monday's regular meeting of council. During a brief speech he said the community should be commended for the care and compassion it has shown to the Dwyre family. He also credited the officers of the EPS for their professional handling of the investigation.
Young educator fondly remembered
By Norm Park
Fellow staff members and students at Hillcrest School and administration of the South East Cornerstone Public School Division were first recovering from the shock of sudden loss and then holding out fond memories of educator Leslie Dwyre last week.
The 27-year-old Grade 8 teacher at Hillcrest was in her second year of service with the Cornerstone division, having taught at Weldon School in Bienfait initially before transferring to Hillcrest for the current school year.
Dwyre was found dead in a condo on Petterson Drive and Nathan Mullen, a man known to her, has been charged with second-degree murder.
A native of Brockville, Ont., Dwyre was one of those teachers who could be relied on by other educators who worked with her, said Hillcrest principal David Gillingham.
"Hillcrest was a better school with her in it. She had one of those positive, bubbly personalities, a great sense of humour, and she was definitely dedicated to the kids," said the principal. "She was one of those teachers who wouldn't hesitate to seek an alternative way to reach a student if she saw they weren't getting what they needed. She handled some pretty frustrating events with a lot of skill. We're grieving here, and we are missing her."
Gillingham said the public school division was most professional in dealing with the tragedy in a quick and resourceful manner, ensuring that counsellors were available for staff and students the first morning after it was learned of her untimely death.
Three additional counsellors were assigned to the school and one more was dispatched to Weldon School in the event there was a need to communicate with staff and students who had known and worked with Dwyre there.
"The whole Hillcrest community has stepped up to help us out. The parents have been very supportive and understanding," said Gillingham.
Marc Casavant, director of education for Cornerstone, said counsellors were at the schools at 7 a.m. on the morning after the death and discussions were held with regards as to how to best get through that day and standby teaching personnel were available if required.
"We are also co-operating with Estevan Police Service, they're doing excellent work as far as I can see," said Casavant, in reference to the incident.
"We informed the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation about the incident and some details in the event some of their members might require additional attention to help them get through this," Casavant added.
Another counsellor, assigned to the Estevan Comprehensive School was made aware of the possibility that some students Dwyre taught last year, might be seeking some support too.
Gillingham said Victim Services made their presence felt, too, and between them and EPS, they were a major factor in helping the school community work their way through the loss.
Casavant said Cornerstone would definitely send an official representative to Dwyre's funeral service in Brockville.
"We just feel sick for her family. It was so tragic and so sudden. She was a great employee, a wonderful individual. Now her family has to come to Estevan to take her home."
"It's a tremendous loss for us. I know there are many different ways of showing grief, so I just have to trust that what we're doing is right for Leslie and right for the students and staff," said Gillingham.
Casavant said that following the tragedy, he and others in administration will be scrutinizing the list of possible temporary replacements for the young teacher. They will seek someone who will help the more senior Hillcrest students keep focused on their work and assignments while understanding the trauma that many of them will be going through.
"We have a list of strong substitute educators. We'll go through it to see who will be able to help the school finish out the year," Casavant said.
