A man has been charged with the murder of an elderly Cape Breton war veteran following a 10-year-old investigation into his death.
Family members found 82-year-old Harold ‘Buster’ Slaunwhite murdered in his home on Brooke Street in Dominion, N.S. on Sept. 10, 2006.
Police announced Thursday morning that they had arrested a 49-year-old man at a Glace Bay, N.S. home Wednesday in connection with Slaunwhite’s death.
Raymond Glenn Farrow of Glace Bay appeared in Sydney provincial court Thursday morning to face a charge of first-degree murder.
“It’s relief, it’s closure to see him behind bars, that’s the thing now,” says Harold “Buster” Slaunwhite’s son, Harold Slaunwhite Jr.
The Nova Scotia RCMP Major Crimes unit has been working with the Cape Breton Regional Police on the investigation since 2014.
“It’s been just over 10 years since Buster Slaunwhite was found murdered in his Dominion home; it was a tragic and horrific crime, and one that we never once stopped working to solve,” said Cape Breton Regional Police Chief Peter McIsaac in a statement.
“An extremely dedicated investigative team spent thousands of hours dealing with mounds of evidence, to get us to the arrest and charge of the individual responsible,” adds McIsaac.
The case was also added to Nova Scotia’s Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes program.
“Today’s announcement does not change what happened in 2006, and it’s my hope that we are able to provide the family and community with some answers,” says inspector Lynn Young of the Nova Scotia RCMP.
Slaunwhite had served a medic in the Second World War and lived alone at the time of his death. His family says he was a person everyone in the community loved, and thanked police for their efforts.
“It’s been a long time coming. The police were on it and they never stopped until it was done,” says Harold Slaunwhite Jr.
Raymond Farrow has been remanded to the Cape Breton Correctional Centre, and will be back in court next Thursday.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.
