Fredericton Police begin work to ensure case of stayed murder charges never happens again

Fredericton police have hired a former RCMP investigator after an error led to the collapse of two murder cases.

The Fredericton Police Force is aiming to have all recommendations from the Scott Report implemented by June of 2027, Chief Gary Forward confirmed Thursday.

The report stems from a review that was ordered in June 2025, after five people accused of the murders of Corey Markey and Brandon Patrick Donelan were released due to a stay of proceedings in court.

In both cases, the police force said the stay of proceedings was because of an “error initiated, discovered and subsequently reported to the Crown by the Fredericton Police Force.”

But there haven’t been any further details released about what that error entailed, only that it was an “insurmountable evidentiary issue.”

Markey’s death occurred on Dec. 21, 2021. Donelan was initially reported missing in January 2022. His body was found on March 31, 2022.

Ontario-based lawyer Ian D. Scott and retired RCMP inspector Andrea Gallant reviewed the two cases and what lead to the stay of proceedings, releasing a report with their findings on Dec. 12, 2025.

On Thursday, Chief Forward told the city’s public safety committee the force has hired Gallant to oversee the implementation of the recommendations that came from the report.

The intention, according to a release, is to strengthen “the force’s major crime management capacity.”

“Public trust with the community is certainly our priority moving forward,” said Chief Forward.

The work started in January, and Forward says phase one, which will include 11 of the recommendations, should take about ten months.

June of 2027 is the goal for the rest of the recommendations to be implemented.

Those recommendations focus on better training and management of the Major Crimes unit. It also calls for early and consistent communication with the Office of the Crown Attorney.

One recommendation, supposed to be implemented in early 2027, is to review all major case investigations and unsolved historical files within the Force.

The plan, and their progress, will be updated on the Force’s website. Another update will be made April 2.

‘If it’s not corrected, this could very well happen again’

Ensuring these recommendations are fully implemented is integral to improving the police force’s reputation, says a St. Thomas University criminologist.

Michael Boudreau calls the situation a ‘travesty of justice,’ and believes the force needs to undergo rigorous checks and balances as it undertakes this action plan.

“If these recommendations are not fully implemented, this could very well happen again,” he said. “Because this was a breakdown in internal communications between frontline investigators and senior members of the Fredericton Police Force and then a breakdown in communication with the Crown.”

He does question if a few of the recommendations will be explored, but in the end, not entirely implemented, as they are more “aspirational” than the others.

Those include ‘exploration of integrated homicide investigation model’ and ‘exploration and procurement of effective and efficient major case management records system.’

Boudreau says while the number of homicide’s that occur in Fredericton is relatively low, it has increased.

According to Statistics Canada, the city reported one homicide in 2023. There were five in 2024.

“I think it’s fair for residents of Fredericton to continue to be wary of the Fredericton police forces ability to handle and to investigate these kinds of types of serious crimes,” he said. “These are real world issues. And people, real people are affected in this case very adversely. Both the victims and their families. And it was preventable. That’s the key part. It was preventable because whatever the error may have been, I would venture to say that most of that error could have been prevented if it was an investigatory error.”

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