SASKATOON -- Prince Albert’s municipal police chief says an RCMP officer charged with first-degree murder “indirectly provided the details” they needed to find the victim’s body and arrest him.
Prince Albert RCMP officer Cst. Bernie Herman is charged in the death of 26-year-old Braden Herman. Police say the two were not related, but they did know each other.
Chief Jon Bergen said police located Braden’s body north of Prince Albert, near Little Red River Park.
“There was fairly reasonable cooperation from the accused in our findings of the victim and of the deceased and leading us to the arrest of the accused,” said Bergen.
Bernie, a 32-year member of the RCMP, was arrested on Tuesday evening shortly after when police believe the homicide occurred.
He said more details about the investigation will be released early next week. Being so early in the investigation, Bergen said some details are still unclear, such as the “specific relationship” between Bernie and Braden.
Police have seized cell phones, he said, but it will take more time to thoroughly go through any evidence on them.
The Prince Albert Police Service is leading the investigation with oversight from retired officers appointed by the provincial government, said Bergen. He said the independent observers were neither previously RCMP members nor Prince Albert police officers.
“If I felt like there was any conflict or concern with our ability to investigate this homicide, we would not be investigating it,” said Bergen.
"I understand that there's going to be questions and how this could involve somebody who's served and protected the community for so many years to actually be responsible for such a tragic incident. But again, we're a professional police service and we will continue to provide professional services to our community."
Bergen said he briefly interacted with Bernie around 20 years ago when they both worked in traffic.
He said Bernie is “not in custody locally,” and made sure the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety was aware that an experienced RCMP officer was going to be incarcerated.
