Homicide rate in Saskatchewan at all-time high

By Medicine Hat News on January 31, 2025.

@MedicineHatNews

The homicide rate in Saskatchewan reached an all-time high in 2024, about three times the national average, according to a recent report by the RCMP in that province.

During the last year, the service dealt with 38 separate homicide files dealing with 40 victims.

That is eight more cases and 10 more victims than in 2023, and more deceased persons than in any other year outside 2022 when 11 fatalities came from a single mass-stabbing incident. Only eight Saskatchewan residents were murdered in 2014.

Last year, investigators also dealt with three or more suspicious deaths within the same week on four occasions.

“These clusters especially put significant pressures on frontline RCMP detachments and investigative resources as multiple, specially-trained teams are required to deploy immediately to these calls for service,” said Supt. Josh Graham of Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes unit.

RCMP jurisdiction areas in Saskatchewan experienced a homicide rate of 7.2 victims per 100,000 people of population, compared to a nationwide rate of 1.94.

The rate in the sparsely populated northern patrol area rose to 14.8 persons per 100,000.

In the 38 cases opened in 2024, 36 people have been charged with first- or second-degree murder or manslaughter.

That includes 25 males and 11 females, while 16 people accused were under court-ordered release conditions at the time of the alleged offences.

A total of 28 cases from previous years remain unsolved.

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