The Winnipeg Police Service said three people have been arrested in connection with the homicide of a woman whose body was left in a barrel to decompose on a Waverley Heights property.
Police said the victim Jennifer Barrett, 42, shared a home at 38 Forest Lake Dr. with the three accused. Officers said Barrett succumbed to injuries in August of 2016 that were sustained during an assault that lasted several days.
Police said the victim’s remains were put in a barrel along with several chemical agents that sped the decomposition of the body.
The WPS said the barrel was left in the backyard on the property.
An investigation into Barrett’s death was launched in the fall of 2016. Investigators carried out a search warrant on Dec. 1 of 2016. Forensic lab results confirmed the identity of the remains.
Police said the incident is not related to human trafficking, but there could be a possible drug element.
Police said Perez Adaryll Cleveland, 43, was charged with first degree murder. Cleveland was arrested while in custody in Headingley.
Cleveland was also wanted by police for a series of violent assaults last September.
Court documents obtained by CTV News show Cleveland was accused of assaulting someone else with a hammer, gasoline, electrical cord and a razor.
He was also charged with uttering death threats.
Jessica Elizabeth Reid, 34, and Holley Alyssa Sullivan, 28, were both charged with accessory after the fact to murder.
Reid was arrested at a Winnipeg home, while Sullivan was arrested with the help of the Calgary Police Service.
