RCMP reassure councillor 2-year-old Dieppe double homicide case 'active'
Rose-Marie and Bernard Saulnier were found dead in their home in September 2019
A Moncton councillor has questioned whether police have forgotten about a Dieppe couple whose 2019 deaths remain unsolved.
The bodies of Bernard Saulnier, 78, and his wife, Rose-Marie Saulnier, 74, were found inside the house they owned for decades on Sept. 7, 2019. Police have called their deaths homicides and not random.
Coun. Paulette Thériault, who knew the couple, asked Monday evening about the investigation while Codiac Regional RCMP Supt. Ron DeSilva was offering councillors an update on policing in Moncton.
"I find this quite worrisome, the fact that we are no longer talking about this very much," Thériault said in French during the council meeting. "They're more or less forgotten."
"I can tell you the police have not forgotten those two people," DeSilva said in response to Thériault.
DeSilva said the RCMP's major crime unit continues to investigate, and the case is still considered active.
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He offered no further details.
Thériault became friends with Rose-Marie after meeting her in the 1990s through Rose-Marie's work as a nutritionist, herbalist and naturotherapist at a health food store.
In an interview, she said she hopes the community can get answers.
"I hope that the RCMP will find whomever, whatever happened and people in the community will feel, perhaps, a sense of closure on this," Thériault said.
"Because people are concerned. I mean, they were citizens who were really well-known in the community. And you know, there's been so many rumours about this."
Thériault said she appreciated DeSilva's answer.
"I know that these are not easy cases," Thériault said.
RCMP initially issued several news releases following the couple's deaths with photos or descriptions of vehicles and people seeking information from the public. A spokesperson said last year that police were able to talk to those people and are no longer looking for them. It wasn't clear if they are connected to the case.
One of those news releases was re-shared Saturday on Facebook by DeSilva's Codiac RCMP predecessor, prompting Thériault's questions Monday.
In December 2020, police searched around a lake in Moncton's west end neighbourhood for potential evidence related to the case. Police haven't said if they found anything during the search.
It's unclear if there has been any progress in the case.
CBC News asked Cpl. Hans Ouellette, the New Brunswick RCMP spokesperson, whether police have any suspects or have made any arrests. Ouellette issued a written statement Tuesday that matched almost word for word one issued by RCMP in 2020. The statement didn't directly answer the questions about suspects or arrests.
"Once we are in a position to provide more details or an update, we will," the statement says. "There are parts of the investigation that we can not discuss as we don't want to disclose anything that could potentially jeopardize the investigation."
One of the couple's sons, Sylvio Saulnier, owned a house on Dominion Street in Moncton raided by RCMP on Aug. 28, 2019 targeting an alleged drug-trafficking operation. He faces drug charges laid earlier this year. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for May 25, 2022.
Police have not said if the raid and the couple's deaths are related.