Manitoba RCMP say a woman charged with murder in the death of a Manitoba woman reported missing last summer is facing new charges.
The body of 36-year-old Tamara Benoit was discovered last September near near Cottonwood Drive in the Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie on Sept. 3, 2020. She was reported missing to police in Winnipeg in July and was last seen alive in the Portage la Prairie area in May.
Tova Jeanine Peters, 36, was charged in early January with second-degree murder in connection with Benoit’s death. Ryan Peters, 37, from Long Plain First Nation, had also previously been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the case.
A third suspect, a 16-year-old boy, was arrested in March and is facing the same charge.
Police said Tuesday Tova Jeanine Peters has also been charged with obstruction of justice and breach of a court order after she allegedly attempted to contact a witness in the investigation.
Benoit’s mother, Sheila Norman, has previously told Global News 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.
RCMP have described Benoit as a much-loved mother who was researching her Metis background and history before she died.
— With files from Shane Gibson