Police seized drugs from a Saskatoon home, returned 2 days later to gruesome murder scene
Murder victim Lee Perkins was only person there when police took the drugs
Warning:
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police → seize → drugs
This story contains graphic details about a murder scene.
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story → contain → scene
When police responded to a 911 call at a home one winter day in Saskatoon, they didn't find an emergency.
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they → respond → emergency
They did find a flimsily barricaded door that appeared to have been kicked in, a young man sleeping on a couch upstairs, and a jumbled pile of "suspicious" brown glass bottles with pink liquid on a bed downstairs.
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that → find → bed
Officers seized the bottles.
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Officers → seize → bottles
They didn't arrest or charge the man on the couch.
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They → arrest → couch
Two days later, when police returned with a search warrant for the same house, they found that man again.
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they → return → man
He had been tortured, killed and mutilated.
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He → torture → ?
Officers found his remains stuffed into a large plastic tote.
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remains → find → tote
Lee Perkins's parents, brother and sister-in-law are seen outside Saskatoon Court of King's Bench in September, wearing shirts with his photo on the front.
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parents → see → front
On the back, the shirts say, "Justice for Lee."
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shirts → say → Lee
3 people charged
Three people are accused in relation to his death, and because of the multiple court proceedings, almost all of the details about the case were subject to publication bans, to protect their rights to fair trials.
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all → charge → trials
But this week, a jury in Saskatoon Court of King's Bench delivered its verdict in one of the related trials.
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jury → deliver → trials
The remaining matters are being decided by a judge alone, so the details can now be shared publicly.
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details → remain → judge
All three accused were initially charged with first-degree murder, although only one of them still faces that charge.
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one → accuse → charge
His three-week trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 9.
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trial → schedule → Nov.
A second man, Dillon Singler, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
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man → plead → manslaughter
The Crown is seeking to have him designated a dangerous offender, and that hearing is scheduled for January.
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hearing → seek → January
The third accused was Chantal Lee McLaren.
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third → accuse → ?
The Crown later discontinued the murder charge against her and instead charged her with being an accessory after the fact to murder and offering an indignity to human remains.
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Crown → discontinue → remains
McLaren pleaded guilty to the accessory charge, admitting that she purchased supplies to clean up the murder scene.
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she → plead → scene
She was not present when Perkins died and she did not admit helping to clean up the scene.
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she → die → scene
The indignity charge is expected to be withdrawn when the judge gives a decision on McLaren's sentence on Dec. 9.
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judge → expect → Dec.
At her sentencing hearing last month, an agreed statement of facts signed by the Crown and defence said McLaren was in an intimate relationship with Vrazalica "characterized by escalating and repeated physical, emotional and coercive abuse by Mr. Vrazalica towards Ms. McLaren."
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McLaren → agree → McLaren
Vrazalica and McLaren were also charged in relation to the liquid-filled brown glass bottles that police found when they responded to the 911 call on Feb. 1, 2024, two days before Perkins's body was found.
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body → charge → Feb.
Drug lab testing results in May 2024 showed the bottles contained remimazolam, a form of benzodiazepine — a class of drugs that are legal when prescribed, and are usually used to treat conditions like sleep disorders or anxiety.
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that → show → disorders
It was the first time authorities in Saskatchewan had come across remimazolam in a liquid form, a police drug expert testified in court.
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expert → come → court
The number of full bottles seized (43), plus hundreds of empty bottles found in the house, led police to believe the drug was being trafficked, which is illegal.
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which → seize → police
Vrazalica pleaded guilty to possession of benzodiazepine for the purpose of trafficking and is serving a two-year sentence.
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Vrazalica → plead → sentence
McLaren pleaded not guilty.
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McLaren → plead → ?
Her trial on that charge started in Saskatoon Court of King's Bench on Oct. 5 in front of a 12-person jury.
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trial → start → jury
It ended on Wednesday with a guilty verdict.
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It → end → verdict
That jury was not told anything in court about the murder, or about Vrazalica’s guilty plea on the drug charge.
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jury → tell → charge
Now, more parts of the story can be told.
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parts → tell → story
The home McLaren was renting on Feb. 1, 2024, where Perkins was sleeping on the couch upstairs and police found and seized the brown bottles downstairs, was at 610 Lisgar Avenue.
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police → rent → Avenue
McLaren was not home when police came that day.
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police → come → ?
She didn't testify at her trial on the drug charge, so the jury never heard from her and she was not cross-examined under oath,
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she → testify → oath
but she did read a prepared statement at her sentencing on the accessory charge that referenced what she said happened.
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she → read → charge
"While I was away at a dentist appointment, police attended my residence and removed drugs that I was unaware were in my home," she said.
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she → attend → home
"To my knowledge, nothing was left informing me that the police had been there or explaining what had occurred."
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what → leave → me
…and 38 more, not listed.
The Aporia
