A disturbing series of events is being revealed in a murder trial underway in Kamloops, B.C.
Mitchell Earl McIntyre is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Julia Howe on Feb. 6, 2022, in Creston.
However, according to court documents, when Howe’s body was first discovered lying in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor of her boyfriend’s home, it was believed she had fallen and died of natural causes.
It was not until an autopsy was performed, two days after Howe’s death, that the bullet wound was located, and the police realized her death was a homicide.
Just after 4 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2022, McIntyre showed up at the East Kootenay Regional Hospital in Cranbrook reporting that he was suffering from a heart attack. However, the emergency room doctor found that McIntyre was fine and he was released and reportedly spent the night in his car, according to the court documents.
The next day, McIntyre showed up at the Cranbrook RCMP detachment saying he should be arrested and locked up but would not tell the police why. He was eventually detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to the hospital.
Within an hour of arriving at the hospital, McIntyre began saying he had shot his landlord’s girlfriend, but initially, police did not suspect that Howe’s death was suspicious. It was only after the bullet was found that they told hospital staff that McIntyre was a person of interest in the case.
Meanwhile, McIntyre also told staff he had killed another person in Kimberley. Still, the court documents state that doctors did not want to reveal any more to the police than necessary. Police did not have any information about a suspicious death in Kimberley.
After about three weeks, McIntyre was discharged from the hospital.
He continued to be in and out of the hospital psych ward and police were able to eventually obtain his medical records where he had talked to hospital staff about killing a second person, according to documents.
“Police database checks quickly revealed that a man named David Creamer had been found dead in his home in Kimberley on 6 February 2022, the very same day that Ms. Howe had been found dead in Creston, some 95 minutes away by car,” the court documents state.
Creamer had been discovered by his son and the coroner ruled his death was an accident.
Creamer’s body was released to the funeral home and later cremated, meaning no forensic evidence was gathered in the case.
No charges have been laid in his death.
“Unfortunately, with respect to Mr. Creamer, whether or not his confession regarding killing Mr. Creamer is accurate or not, we don’t know that because we don’t know whether or not Mr. Creamer’s death was a homicide as the body has been cremated,” lawyer Ravi Hira, who is not affiliated with the case, told Global News.
This case raises concerns about the resources dedicated to criminal investigations in rural parts of the province.
“The medical examiners, based on their resources, make a determination of whether or not there’s a homicide, depending on the complexity of the case,” Hira said.
“It may take them some time to do so. Resources outside the city or cities are more limited.”
When McIntyre was discharged from the hospital on March 16, 2022, police were waiting for him and arrested him for Howe’s death.
He has been in custody since that date and is facing one count of second-degree murder for Howe’s death.
Other than his statements to hospital staff, there is no evidence linking him to Creamer’s death.
McIntyre’s trial is expected to last until Nov. 22.