Man charged with murder over death of teen in 2000

Seventeen years after a teenaged Algonquin girl was beaten to death in her bedroom, the Sûreté du Québec have arrested a man and charged him with first-degree murder.

Rosianna Poucachiche, 17, was killed in her family’s home on the Lac-Rapide reserve on Oct. 10, 2000.

The reserve is on the west side of the Cabonga Reservoir, and is part of the territory of the Algonquins of Barrière Lake. It is also known as Rapid Lake.

The suspect, now 33, cannot be identified because he was under the age of 18 at the time of the crime. Police said he was arrested at an outfitter south of the community of more than 600 people.

The suspect, who also comes from Lac-Rapide, was scheduled to appear Friday at the Maniwaki courthouse to face a charge of firstdegree murder.

Poucachiche’s family still lives in the community, and recent publicity over the cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women had highlighted her death. Family members had publicly accused police of giving up on the investigation.

The Sûreté said it has a website dedicated to unsolved crimes in its jurisdiction at www.crimesnonresolus.com.