CUTKNIFE – A man charged with first-degree murder – who has been out on bail since March – was arrested a month later on seven new weapons offenses and remains out of custody.
Seventy-year-old John Robert Gregoire appeared in person in Cut Knife circuit court Tuesday morning on the weapons charges and walked free after his matter was adjourned to Sept. 9 in North Battleford Provincial Court.
Court heard that Gregoire was charged April 9 in the R. M. of Hillsdale with four counts of storing loaded unsecured firearms, possession of a restricted firearm, possession of a restricted firearm with readily accessible ammunition without a license, and possession of a firearm obtained in the commission of an offense.
Gregoire also appears in North Battleford court Sept. 9 on the first-degree murder charge. Gregoire and Robert Pich were arrested in February 2021 and charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of 64-year-old Edward [Ted] Keith Geddes who went missing in 2011. Gregoire is also charged with kidnapping with a firearm, and indecently interfering with human remains.
Gregoire was released on bail in March after a show cause hearing in Battleford Court of Queen’s Bench.
RCMP say that Geddes was last seen in April 2011. When police went to his home in Baldwinton for an arrest warrant in an unrelated incident in mid-April 2011, they found his dog dead in the entranceway. Police say the dog’s death wasn’t from natural causes. Geddes was wanted for theft over $5,000 stemming from an offence in April 2011 in the community of Neilburg.
The Saskatchewan RCMP Historical Case Unit and RCMP Major Crimes Unit renewed the investigation in 2021. Cut Knife RCMP and RCMP Forensic Identification Section assisted in the investigation.
Police executed search warrants at a rural property outside of Baldwinton on Feb. 8, 2022. The RCMP say they continue to search for Geddes’ remains.
