'Brutal, cruel, and frankly inhumane': Sask. RCMP describe the sprawling investigation of Tiki Laverdiere's murder

The last of 10 people convicted in the brutal killing of a 25-year-old Edmonton woman was sentenced on Friday, closing a chapter on one of the largest homicide investigations for the Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes Investigations unit.

The case dates back to April 27, 2019, when Tiki Laverdiere, 25, went to Thunderchild First Nation, a community an hour away from North Battleford, to attend her friend Tristen Cook-Buckle’s funeral.

She was last seen and heard from two days later.

Superintendent Joshua Graham, head of the Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes Investigation unit, said it initially started as a missing person case, but police shifted to a homicide investigation about a month later.

In July 2019, Laverdiere’s remains were found in a rural area near North Battleford.

“The offence was quite brutal, cruel, and frankly inhumane, so it was something the investigators were very motivated to get to,” Graham told CTV News.

He said it was one of the largest homicide investigations in the province. He noted the largest one was the mass killings in James Smith Cree Nation and in Weldon in 2022.

Graham said the case took about four months of active investigation and 10 people were charged in connection to Laverdiere’s death.

He said the case had nine crime scenes, and involved the drug trade and gang activity, adding challenges to the investigation.

“It’s like following a trail of clues, essentially, one crime scene to the next and eventually putting that information altogether, as well as important key interviews with witnesses,” he said.

He said the mother of two knew her killers.

“The main coordinator of the murder was a high-ranking female member of a street gang, and she was friends with her,” he said.

Graham said the killers believed Laverdiere had information or was responsible for Cook-Buckle’s death. The 20-year-old is a victim in an active murder investigation by the Edmonton Police Service.

“They basically took her captive, kidnapped her, and moved her to three different houses, and tortured her until they got what they thought was some form of a confession, which really was not found full in truth,” he said.

Nearly five years after her murder, all 10 people have been convicted, with the final person being sentenced last Friday.

“For families, it’s not only closure, but a sense of justice, and trying to get some resolution to a difficult situation,” Graham said.

He said he’s thankful for the investigator’s tireless efforts to solve this case.