Helen Betty Osborne - Murder Investigation

Murder Investigation

Police at first suspected her ex-boyfriend, Cornelius Bighetty, but his name was later cleared after a lie detector test. She and Cornelius had an argument earlier in the evening at the Cambrian Hotel. During the initial days of the investigation, attention was placed on Betty's friends. Unfortunately, unacceptable recording and preserving of evidence at the Pump House (the crime scene) seriously crippled the investigation .

Four young local white men were eventually implicated in her death: Dwayne Archie Johnston, James Robert Paul Houghton, Lee Scott Colgan and Norman Bernard Manger. It was not until December 1987, sixteen years after her death, that any of them were convicted of the crime after Constable Rob Urbanoski took over the investigation and placed an ad in the local newspaper for witnesses to come forward. Even then, only Johnston was convicted, as Houghton had been acquitted, Colgan had received immunity for testifying against Houghton and Johnston, and Manger had never been charged.

The Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission conducted an investigation into concerns surrounding the length of time involved in resolving the case. The Commission concluded that the most significant factors prolonging the case were racism, sexism and indifference.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police officially closed the Osborne case on February 12, 1999.