A second person has been charged with murder in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found in Portage la Prairie in September.
Tamara Benoit (Norman), 36, was found dead near Cottonwood Drive in the RM of Portage la Portage Prairie Sept. 3. Benoit had been reported missing to police in Winnipeg in July and was last seen alive in the Portage area in May.
RCMP said Tova Jeanine Peters, 36, of no fixed address, was arrested at a Winnipeg home Friday morning. She has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder and accessory after the fact to murder, police said.
The arrest comes one day after police announced second-degree murder charges had been laid against Ryan Peters, 37, from Long Plain First Nation.
Police have not said how they believe Benoit was killed.
Benoit’s mother, Sheila Norman, told Global News Thursday her daughter and the man first charged in her killing had been in a relationship for more than eight years and the accused is the father of three of her children.
Norman said Benoit had seven kids in all, including her latest — who she named Justice — born just months before she went missing.
RCMP said in a release earlier in the week that a 15-year-old boy from Winnipeg was also arrested but he was released without charges.
Police described Benoit as a much-loved mother who was researching her Metis background and history before she died.
— With files from The Canadian Press