RCMP confirm death at Penticton motel was murder

PENTICTON – Seven days after shots were fired and a man’s body was found at a home in Penticton, police have confirmed the death as a homicide today.

RCMP have also confirmed the murder victim’s name. Darren Leadbeater, 36, of Penticton was originally from Fort McMurray, Alta.

Police responded to a call about shots fired along Lakeshore Avenue — a tourist hot spot — and discovered Leadbeater’s body inside a unit at the Golden Sands Resort motel on June 4.

The forensic examination of the murder scene has been finished, according to a RCMP media release, although the investigation continues.

The release also points out the RCMP will not be releasing any further information at this time because the murder probe is active, ongoing and progressing.

Until today’s media release was issued, the only person to speak publically was new Mayor Andrew Jakubeit. When he was pressed this morning on why he spoke about it, he refused to say if he has any real information.

“Again, to respect the integrity of the thing, they keep their information close at best, and I wouldn’t want to know and accidentally mention something that taints their investigation,” he said when asked if police have communicated with him.

Cpl. Dave Tyreman also spoke to the lack of information from the RCMP in his media release, saying he wants the citizens of Penticton to understand that in any investigation police must consider the fine balance between providing full details of any incident to a community and the need to protest the integrity of an investigation and of any future court proceedings.

“I understand that anytime there is a homicide in a close knit community such as Penticton, there are a lot of unanswered questions,” he says in the release. “We would like to reassure you that this homicide is believed to be an isolated, targeted occurrence and the public is not currently at risk.”

Police would like the public’s help with the investigation.

Anyone who has information regarding the murder is asked to contact the Penticton RCMP at 250-492-4300 or remain anonymous by calling Crime stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.