Detective who helped solve murder of young girl reconciles with past

FREDERICTON – It took Mike Richard more than two decades to realize how deeply he was affected by his work on a devastating case that rocked the small city of Fredericton.

The former detective was one of the lead investigators who helped convict pedophile Murray Edward Lyons in the rape and murder of eight-year-old Jackie Clarke in 1995.

Richard's story of how he interrogated Lyons and helped solve the crime will be featured in Thursday's episode of the CBC docudrama series "The Detectives."

He says while he was working on the case, he "put up walls" and isolated himself, but after opening up on the episode, he believes more police officers should feel comfortable in sharing their stories on how they're affected by the work they do.

In the wake of Fredericton's more recent tragedy — an August shooting that killed four people, including two police officers — Richard says he hopes his story will help humanize police officers and highlight the trauma they may face after tackling difficult cases.

Richard, who reconnected with the girl's family during the filming of the episode, started a GoFundMe page to memorialize Jackie within the community, and contributed the consulting fee he got from the show.