EDMONTON -- A 32-year-old man was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of a woman at a southeast Edmonton motel in May.
Lisa Arsenault, a 48-year-old mother of three, was found dead in a suite at the Royal Lodge on Gateway Boulevard and 38 Avenue on May 24.
In June, Edmonton police said a man captured on surveillance footage leaving the motel was a person of interest, but on Wednesday they said he was a suspect in Arsenault's death.
With tips from the public, police arrested Ian Stewart Gainer in Edmonton and charged him with first-degree murder.
"Tips started coming in almost immediately," EPS Homicide Section Det. Richard Windover said. "It was great to see the public response.
"We knew there was gonna be people out in the public who would recognize who this individual was."
Windover said they charged Gainer with first-degree murder because the investigation has led them to believe "it was not a spur-of-the-moment incident."
When asked if Arsenault and Gainer knew each other, Windover said he could not speak to that right now.
EPS is not searching for anyone else.
Gainer, of Camrose, was not previously known to police.
'WE'RE ABSOLUTELY SO GRATEFUL'
Ashley Kowalewski, one of Arsenault's two younger sisters, said her faith for a resolution was low but commended the police and thanked the public for their help.
"Our family is indebted to the public who came forward with their tips," she said. "We’re absolutely so grateful."
Kowalewski said she doesn’t know Gainer, and isn't sure why someone would want to kill her sister. She's hoping for more answers from the police.
"We still don't know how my sister died. We still don’t know what this man's motive may have been. There's still a lot of unanswered questions."
