Bay D’Espoir RCMP responded to report of a suspicious death of a woman on January 9th at approximately 930 pm.
Police arrived to the home where they found 28-year-old Chantel John, an indigenous woman of Conne River, deceased.
RCMP arrested 35-year-old Kirk Keeping of St. Jacques, NL, and charged him with first degree murder. Cause of death has not been released at this time.
Update: on September 12th 2023 Grand Falls-Windsor Supreme Court, a conviction of second-degree murder was handed down to 40-year-old Kirk Keeping in relation to a homicide that occurred in Conne River on January 9, 2019. Keeping is sentenced to life in prison, with the eligibility of parole in sixteen years.
RCMP said Chantel John of Conne River was 28-years-old when she was murdered. She was a victim of intimate partner violence, having been in a relationship with Kirk Keeping.
Additionally, Keeping was convicted and received concurrent incarceration sentencing for the following offences:
- Assault with a weapon – 24 months
- Uttering threats – 24 months
- Breach of probation – 12 months
- Breach of an undertaking – 60 days