a mother of three who was killed. An undercover inquiry. unsolved case. The new investigative programme “The Next Call” from CBC Podcasts is centred on the complex case involving Terrie Dauphinais’ 2002 murder in Calgary. Even though the charges had been suspended by a court, the matter was finally declared to be closed after over two decades. We’ve got your back whether you’re curious to learn more about the case, the suspected killer’s identity, or their motivations for committing the murder. So let’s get started, shall we?
How Did Terrie Ann Dauphinais Die?
Sue Martin gave birth to Terrie Ann Martin Dauphinais on February 21, 1978 in Nelson, British Columbia’s Central Kootenay Regional District. Her mother said Terrie had a “heart of gold” in an interview with CBC Television in 2015. She enjoyed baking and sewing, and she was able to take up an instrument and learn how to play it within an hour, such as the saxophone. She belonged to the Métis, an Indigenous Peoples group in Canada.
The discovery of Terrie’s body at her Citadel home in northwest Calgary, Calgary Census Division, Alberta, Canada, on April 29, 2002, shocked Terrie’s step-sister. She dialled 911 right away, and when Calgary police came, they discovered the body of the 24-year-old Métis woman on the apartment’s main floor. The three children were secure and locked in their rooms, and the officers found no signs of a forced entry into the home.
According to police reports, police welfare officers covered Terrie’s children, who were eight months, two, and four years old, in blankets and took them out of the house. The body was transferred to the coroner’s office for autopsy and to identify the exact cause of death. Although no charges had been filed, Staff-Sgt. George Rocks described the death as suspicious. “We will move rapidly from there,” he continued, “after the autopsy tells us just what transpired at the residence.”
According to sources, this would be Calgary’s seventh homicide of the year if proof of foul play could be established. The only thing the police have said about the death is that it was very violent. Sue Martin, however, revealed to the public that her daughter had died from being strangled. Sue vehemently disagreed with the police’s first judgement that the death might have been caused by postpartum depression. That wasn’t postpartum, she remarked. She was severely beaten, had her neck broken, and was strangled.
Who Killed Terrie Ann Dauphinais?
Investigators believe Terrie was slain somewhere between the early hours of April 29 and the early evening of April 28. Kenneth Dauphinais, Terrie’s estranged husband, was not residing with the family at the time. He had been driving a delivery truck for Bullet Transportation on a part-time basis since November 2001. Within a few hours of the body’s discovery, he was detained while accepting a delivery. After a stressful two-day interrogation, he was eventually freed.
But until the case was closed in 2005, he was still regarded as a person of interest in the heinous crime. The homicide division of the Calgary Police Service and Crime Stoppers worked together to create a re-enactment film in April 2010 to commemorate the eighth anniversary of Terrie’s death. The estranged spouse was supposedly the last person to see Terrie alive, according to a 2011 Crime Stoppers video. Sue asserted that she thought the disregard of her daughter’s case was a result of their Native American heritage.
She became an advocate for missing and murdered women and held a lengthy celebration in their honour on Victoria Island, close to Ottawa, in 2015. Even after the police closed the case, Sue kept looking into the murder. She even spoke with producer, host, and investigator David Ridgen to talk about what happened to Terrie in 2015. Kenneth was ultimately apprehended on May 21, 2018, after a cold case unit resumed the investigation in August 2017.
Although he never cooperated with the authorities, the investigators claim they were aware he was the main suspect and lived in Winnipeg. Acting Staff Sgt. Ken Carriere of the former Calgary Police stated, “Information came forward that was unknown from 2002 to 2005. As soon as the Calgary Police Service got the information, it was checked for accuracy before being added to the file for the cold case homicide detectives to review. He was detained after being accused of second-degree murder.
According to testimony given in court, the police conducted an investigation using a “Mr. Big” sting operation. According to police sources, the sting operation’s strategy entails placing the accused inside a made-up criminal group where the target gains the trust of undercover cops. The accused is eventually placed in a position where they might provide information about the alleged crime. According to court testimony, Kenneth’s young daughter told police that her father had locked her mother in her bedroom before she heard her scream.
The young child was heard saying, “I couldn’t go to sleep because I saw my daddy, it was dark,” in a video that was shown in court. Because he was speaking like the cookie monster or the animal monster, I assumed he was a poor parent. When she started sobbing for her mother, she said Kenneth had locked her in her room. I heard my mama scream and cry, the daughter, whose name is protected by a publication prohibition, added. At Kenneth’s trial in November 2020, she would later refute remembering talking to the police in April 2002.
Where is Kenneth Dauphinais Now?
The defence attorney for Kenneth Dauphinais said that the police conducted a flawed investigation because they identified him as the alleged offender right away. The youngster had also recounted people visiting the residence and her mother scurrying out of the house and back to escape them, according to the counsel. “You (the lead investigators) had a predisposition, you had a preexisting view that Mr. Dauphinais was culpable for the death of his wife,” the attorney continued.
On November 17, 2021, a Court of Queen’s judge rejected the evidence gathered during an undercover operation targeting Kenneth, therefore the prosecution decided to suspend Kenneth’s second-degree murder case. Court records state that the police reportedly made up threats against Kenneth, isolated him, causing stress and paranoia, and coerced his kids in an effort to get him to confess to the murder. By applying pressure to the accused, the police “showed no concept of restraint,” according to the judge.
The court said, “When one considers the combination of the danger of loss of liberty, the coercive pressure, the participation of the accused’s children, and the psychological impact of the four days of imprisonment on the accused, there has been an abuse of process.” On December 13, 2021, the Saskatoon Police Service detained the 47-year-old Alberta man while his murder charges were suspended. He had been accused of sexual assault and getting beyond someone’s resistance to committing a crime.
But until the case was closed in 2005, he was still regarded as a person of interest in the heinous crime. The homicide division of the Calgary Police Service and Crime Stoppers worked together to create a re-enactment film in April 2010 to commemorate the eighth anniversary of Terrie’s death. The estranged spouse was supposedly the last person to see Terrie alive, according to a 2011 Crime Stoppers video. Sue asserted that she thought the disregard of her daughter’s case was a result of their Native American heritage.