Bud Paul (RCMP HANDOUT)
Manitoba RCMP, the Winnipeg Police Service and the Manitoba First Nation Police Service (MNFPS) say after a two-year investigation, they have laid first-degree murder charges against a man for the death of Winnipegger Bud Paul.
It began on Aug. 7 when a co-worker contacted Winnipeg police to do a wellness check on Paul after he didn’t show for work.
Three days later, Paul’s vehicle was discovered on Queen Street, where it had been set on fire.
On Aug. 11, 2020, a body was found by MFNPS on Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation, about 100 km south of Winnipeg.
It was Paul, and his death was a homicide.
The joint investigation led the team to Neepawa, where video footage showed Paul with two people at a liquor store on Aug. 1. Police pled to the public for more information in October.
In December 2020, police were given new information and RCMP and WPS searched Paul’s last-known home on Hespeler Avenue. Two people, a woman, 36, and a man, 39, were publicly identified as prime suspects.
Police said at the time the trio were known to each other.
The woman was arrested a few days later and questioned, but released without charges.
For the next 18 months, the investigation continued as forensic evidence was examined by the RCMP lab in Ottawa and a lab in the U.S.
“Through the use of the forensic evidence, tips from the public and statements obtained from witnesses, Aaron Mousseau a 41-year-old male from Winnipeg was … arrested and charged with 1st Degree Murder,” police said in a release Thursday.
No other charges are expected, said police.
