Arrest made in woman’s killing 30 years ago
Three decades after what police called the “brutal killing” of a 43-year-old woman in Rosthern, central Saskatchewan, a man has been charged with firstdegree murder in the cold case.
Frances Wendland was found dead in her home 30 years ago. On Monday, Dennis Henry Hahn was charged with first-degree murder and unlawful confinement in the Dec. 14, 1985 killing. Hahn made his first appearance in Saskatoon provincial court.
In 1985, Wendland was separated from her husband and living with two of her seven children in the town, 68 kilometres north of Saskatoon. Her friends described her at the time as a kind and generous woman with a restless streak.
According to Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the time of the murder, two men wearing ski masks entered the woman’s home after midnight on Dec. 14, 1985.
Investigators said the 43-yearold mother was found gagged and bound in her bed. She died from asphyxiation.
The two suspects had locked three children — her two daughters, aged seven and eight, and their 12-year-old friend — in a basement bathroom. The children escaped about 2½ hours later and ran barefoot through the snow to a neighbour’s home to get help.
Wendland’s death shocked the small community.
“Frances Wendland was a restless woman, but she was kind and generous and always willing to lend a helping hand,” The StarPhoenix reported in 1985.
At the time, the Mounties said Wendland was not sexually assaulted and her death was not related to “a domestic squabble.”
A friend said the motive could not have been robbery because the woman’s jewelry was still on her dresser.
It was unclear if any arrests had been made in the case until now.
Hahn appeared in court by video and his lawyer appeared by phone.
The suspect is scheduled to appear in provincial court again on July 27.