Violet Heathen and Jeanette Chief were both from Onion Lake. Photo courtesy RCMP.
It’s been more than a year since an Alberta man was arrested and charged with murdering two Onion Lake Cree Nation women, and it appears the case is nearing a resolution.
Gordon Alfred Rogers, 60, is accused of first-degree murder in the disappearance and deaths of Jeanette Chief and Violet Heathen more than eight years ago.
Both women were from Onion Lake and in their late 40s at the time of their deaths, with the RCMP saying Heathen and Rogers had previously known each other while Chief and Rogers did not. Rogers had been identified as a person of interest by RCMP historical units in both cases and was arrested on March 24, 2016.
Now, Crown prosecutor Jeff Rudiak says the matter has been fast-tracked to a higher court in Edmonton, and he is expecting guilty pleas for second-degree murder to be entered in September.
The news that the case may not go to trial has been welcome to Heathen’s family, who just sat through the grim details shared at Rogers’ publication ban-protected preliminary hearing in May.
Chief went missing in Lloydminster in June of 2007 and a farmer found her body in a body of water outside the city in the following days. Heathen went missing in May of 2009, also in Lloydminster, but her remains were not found for almost six months in Kitskoty, AB.
The families of the victims have held walks in their memory, bringing to light the issue of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women long before it was on the federal government’s radar.
Lola Wolfe was Chief’s niece through marriage. In a message to MBC News, she said “she was a part of the Wolfe family for many years. She was the most wonderful auntie anyone could ask for. Fun, caring, and she loved everyone.” Wolfe, along with Heathen’s sister Ruby Whitstone, said old wounds have been reopened by the recent court proceedings and declined to comment further at this time.
In a past interview with MBC, Whitstone said her sister loved wagon and horseback rides.
Rogers has not sought bail since his March 2016 arrest.