RCMP have arrested a third man in connection with the August 2019 homicide of Branton Regner near Williams Lake.
On Thursday April 16, North District Major Crime Unit and the Williams Lake RCMP, with the assistance of Merritt frontline RCMP and Kamloops Police Dog Service, arrested Jordell Sellars in relation to the death of Regner, stated Cpl. Madonna Saunderson, District Advisory NCO (Media Relations) for the North District in a news release.
Regner was reported missing following an incident on the Rudy Johnson Bridge on Friday, August 9, 2019. His body was found in the Fraser River near the Sheep Creek Bridge by a fisherman on Tuesday, August 27, 2019.
Sellars, 30, has been remanded into custody and is scheduled to make a court appearance on April 23. Sellars has been charged with one count of murder, one count of attempt murder and one count of kidnapping.
Two other men, Jayson Gilbert, 26, and Michael Drynock, 23, have also been charged with the same offences as a result of this investigation.
Read More: Gilbert, Drynock charged with first degree murder of Branton Regner
“The arrest and charges of a third individual in this community is a testament and dedication of multiple investigators from Williams Lake Detachment and North District Major Crime Unit. Violent offenders and historical offences such as this homicide remain a strategic priority of the detachment,” said Insp Jeff Pelley OIC Williams Lake Detachment.
“It’s horrific a community and local family member was lost but those responsible will be held fully accountable through our judicial system. These offenders are currently in custody for these serious charges will make our community safer.”
Read More: Links probable between homicide, missing persons investigation in Williams Lake
Gilbert and Drynock remain in custody.
Gilbert applied for bail in December but was denied.
Police have said they believe the incident at the Rudy Johnson Bridge is also connected to the death of Richard Irvine James Duncan Jr, 43, also known as ‘Savage.’
Duncan was found shot in a driveway of a residence in the 1100 block of Mackenzie Avenue after police responded to a call of shots fired on Tuesday, Aug. 6 at about 12:45 a.m. He was transported to hospital, however, later died from his injuries.
No one has been charged in his death.
This latest arrest marks the fifth suspect charged with murder in the last year-and-a-half in the Williams Lake area; the Rudy Johnson Bridge/Branton Regner case as well as the death of Jamie Sellars Baldwin at a residence on Mountain House Road on Tuesday Dec. 11, 2018 at 9:35 p.m.
Daine Victor Stump, 21, and Wyatt Lee Boffa, 29, are both facing first degree murder charges in connection with that case.
Read More: Second man charged in connection to 2018 homicide near Williams Lake
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