$50,000 reward offered for Saskatoon murder suspect

Police are hoping a $50,000 dollar reward will lead to the arrest of a fugitive wanted in a Saskatoon homicide.

Jonathan Ouellet-Gendron, 34, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Brandon Baxandall. Baxandall was fatally shot in the Nutana area on May 19, 2022.

Earlier this year, the Bolo program (Be on the Look Out) Ouellet-Gendron to its list of Canada's 25 most-wanted fugitives — the first time a suspect connected with a Saskatchewan crime had been included.

Now Bolo and Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to Ouellet-Gendron's arrest

“We hope this amplifies the attention on Mr. Oulette-Gendron and requests the public’s assistance in capturing him and bringing him before the courts,” Blair Pellerin, Saskatoon police superintendent told CTV News.

According to Max Langlois, Bolo's director, the program has handed out $2 million in rewards since launching in 2018.

“Investigators have mentioned to me very clearly before that rewards do make a difference, they can make a difference and the cases that have been paid, they’ve made a difference,” Langlois told CTV News.

Those rewards offered by the Bolo program are created by a private charitable foundation established by Gardaworld Security Corporation’s founder and CEO.

“The only condition for this reward to be paid is that your tip leads to the arrest of Mr. Ouellet-Gendron,” Langlois said.

What makes Oulette-Gendron’s search qualify for the Bolo criteria is that he’s the prime suspect with a Canada-wide warrant for first-degree murder and another key factor is the concerning details of the nature of Baxandall's shooting death.

“It was a late afternoon in May in a residential area. The danger to the public from the incident that occurred was very brazen and very disruptive to our city and very dangerous to the public,” Pellerin says.

According to Bolo, Montreal-born Oulette Gendron could be in the Toronto area and Saskatoon police hope this new exposure about the case will bring in new tips.

“This individual has escaped our grasp for some time. It wouldn’t surprise me that there are people out there who are with him that don’t know he’s responsible for this,” he said.

Bolo has also launched social media campaigns as well as billboard ads in Saskatoon, Toronto, and Montreal, which are cities Ouellet-Gendron is known to frequent.

To qualify for the reward, tips must be submitted by March 13.

Saskatoon police also arrested and charged Mohamed Abdula Ali with first-degree murder in connection with Baxandall’s death.