Victim’s partner cries as murder charges laid

The partner of a man who was found dead outside Saskatoon’s city limits in October said she was brought to tears when she learned charges had been laid in connection with his death.

Marla Chief said her heart and mind were put at ease Thursday when she learned that an 18-yearold woman had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 37-year-old Patrick Dong.

“I knew for a fact that killer was out there,” Chief said in a message.

Dong was found in a rural area just outside Saskatoon’s southwest city limits on Oct. 23, 2016, around 10:50 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to RCMP, the Saskatoon woman charged in his death was arrested without incident at a home in the city on Wednesday around noon.

The accused, who was 17 at the time of Dong’s death and can’t be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, appeared Thursday morning in Saskatoon provincial court. She is scheduled to return to court Tuesday. RCMP would not say whether she and Dong knew each other.

Chief, who wasn’t made aware of the charges against the teen until Thursday afternoon, said she plans to be in court for her second appearance.

Though Chief had told police not to give up on the investigation, she said she was surprised to hear of the charges Thursday, more than seven months after Dong died.

Chief has previously described Dong as a popular guy and a loyal friend who enjoyed fishing, camping and playing poker. They had been together nearly five years and had just celebrated the birth of their second child in September.

“Me and him together, we can do anything, make anything happen,” Chief said in an interview three weeks after Dong’s death.

Derek Buchan, a friend of Dong ’s, described Dong in the days after his death as “a great guy and a great friend” who didn’t deserve what happened to him.

“I never even remotely imagined or considered him leaving us in that way,” Buchan said in a message.