Retired mother of 4 killed at Charleswood home Tuesday

WINNIPEG – The woman killed at a Charleswood home Tuesday was Kathleen Leary, a recently retired Norway House health services worker, Global News has confirmed.

Leary, 66, was the mother of four girls, two of whom lived with her, according to a Norway House Cree Nation official. She was killed Tuesday at her Cheltenham Cove home. Police confirmed Wednesday morning that they were investigating a homicide at the home, although they didn’t name Leary.

READ MORE: Heavy police presence in Winnipeg’s Charleswood, possible homicide

Police went to the home just before 6 p.m. Tuesday to investigate reports of an injured woman, they said in a news release Wednesday. They found a woman suffering upper-body injuries and she later died, they said.

The homicide unit is investigating but no arrests have been made an interviews are ongoing, the news release said.

During the search for a suspect, police, including the tactical unit, went to a nearby home on Bramble Drive, but the homeowner said police simply searched her home and left. Her car was seen near the Cheltenham home and that information was reported to police, she said.

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Leary was raised in Norway House and worked for  Norway House Cree Nation as a teacher before moving into an administration position at University College of the North. She was appointed the executive director of Norway House Cree Nation health services in 2004. She retired in February.

Norway House Chief Ron Evans knew Leary well and flew to Winnipeg Wednesday and offered his condolences to Leary’s family.

“Shocked it was hard to believe,” said Evans, “she had a passion to make sure we had a lot of educated individuals in Norway House and wanted to make sure Norway House was a good place, a positive place.”

— With files from Lorraine Nickel