Col. Russell Williams, centre, speaks to Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk, left, and Defence Minister Peter MacKay during a visit to CFB Trenton on Jan. 17. (Combat Camera)

The investigation into a military commander charged with murder in the deaths of two women will extend to places he has lived in the past, including Portage la Prairie, Man.

Col. Russell Williams, 46, of Tweed, Ont., the top commander at 8 Wing CFB Trenton, was arrested Sunday in Ottawa.

He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Jessica Lloyd, 27, and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 38.

Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 38, left, was slain Nov. 25, 2009. The body of Jessica Lloyd, 27, right, was found by police Monday morning. (Canadian Press)

Williams was stationed in Portage la Prairie, about 70 kilometres west of Winnipeg, between 1990 and 1992.

Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kristine Rae said the investigation would eventually review unsolved crimes in locations where Williams has lived. But right now it is focused on the current charges before the courts, she said.

"A time period before we start reviewing other unsolved crimes? I can't give you that," she said. "I just know it's going to take quite a bit of time for that to be done.

"But as the investigation progresses we're going to be reviewing other areas of where he has been located to see if there's any unsolved crime, and compare those to see if there's any similarities to what we have here."

Woman missing in Manitoba

The Ontario police have received inquiries from law enforcement agencies in some of the locations Williams has been stationed in during his career, but she would not say if any of those came from Manitoba.

However, there is at least one outstanding case from Winnipeg during that time. Janice Louise Howe, 35, was last seen leaving her parents' Fort Garry home in August 1992.

Her car was found the following morning near Kenora, Ont., but she has never been found.

Retired RCMP superintendent and criminal profiler Glenn Woods said that in cases of serial sex-offenders, police use the violent crime linkage system to look for unsolved crimes with similarities to the offender's other crimes.

"If you have an offender … who you feel has done something like this in [their] mid-40s, they didn't just wake up this year and decide that they're going to do that," he said.

"These are thoughts and fantasies they've had for years and years."

Woods said police also look for similarities in how the crime is carried out, for example, the things the offender does to try to keep from getting caught.

"So if you have someone who is a sexual sadist, you will see elements of sexual sadism in almost all their crimes, depending on how much they are allowed to get away with," he said.