Father of 2 found dead in Portage la Prairie had shared story of drug recovery just months earlier
Police are treating the death of Gerhard Reimer-Wiebe, 27, as a homicide
A father of two found dead in Portage la Prairie last month had recently graduated from a drug recovery program, loved his wife and young children, and will be fondly remembered by his faith community, says a pastor who knew him.
The remains of 27-year-old Gerhard Reimer-Wiebe were discovered on Baker Street in the Manitoba city, west of Winnipeg, on June 24. RCMP are treating his death as a homicide, and recently expanded their investigation to include a burned-down house on Alfred Avenue in Winnipeg.
Reimer-Wiebe recently graduated from the 12-month Adult and Teen Challenge of Central Canada program, a residential Christian recovery program, for his meth addiction. A pastor who worked with him there said he was known for being "kind-hearted, thoughtful and considerate."
"Absolutely devastating," said Terry Thiessen, a community pastor with Adult and Teen Challenge Central Canada, of Reimer-Wiebe's death.
"A lot of people that worked with him and walked with him, we're finding it very hard to believe."
Reimer-Wiebe was originally from Bolivia, where he grew up in a Mennonite community. He had a wife, a three-year-old son and a two-year old daughter, who Thiessen said are now being "actively supported" by his faith community.
"They are experiencing a different level of devastation right now, so we're just trying to walk with them to make sure that as best as we can."
'Rock bottom'
A powerful video posted by Adult and Teen Challenge in February features Reimer-Wiebe sharing his own story of recovery and giving thanks for the help he got after hitting "rock bottom."
WATCH | Gerhard Reimer-Wiebe talks about his recovery:
He was arrested in November 2018 and charged with meth possession.
According to court documents, Crown prosecutor Raegan Rankin said at a 2019 sentencing hearing that Reimer-Wiebe had driven a group of men who had tried to kick in someone's door that night.
Reimer-Wiebe was behind the wheel when RCMP pulled the group over. Police found a small amount of meth on him and more drugs inside the vehicle. Rankin said it was clearly a seller-user scenario, in which Reimer-Wiebe was the user.
He had no prior criminal convictions, she said, adding that given the "disturbing" nature of the incident and the people he was with, it was not a life he would want.
In his recovery video, Reimer-Wiebe said when he got arrested, he spoke with a Christian police officer who didn't want him to go to jail, and asked him why he wouldn't change his life instead.
"I had used up my life until then and had tried on my own to change my life," Reimer-Wiebe says in Low German in the video, which is subtitled.
Tried to get treatment in Bolivia
He was released from custody and entered the Adult and Teen Challenge recovery program a month after his arrest, with the financial support of his Mennonite church in Steinbach, where he was an active choir member.
"He's had a difficult upbringing. He's had some very difficult struggles," defence counsel Josh Anstett told Judge Keith Eyrikson at the 2019 sentencing, at which point Reimer-Wiebe had been in the program for nearly a year.
"He made this decision to go to Teen Challenge entirely on his own, not expecting anything out of it from the court."
Anstett told the court that his client was born in Bolivia and lived there until the age of 21. He'd never known his biological father and his mother was unable to care for him, so he was raised by his aunt and uncle in a separate Mennonite colony.
We had two children.… I tried really hard to show them the right way, when I wasn't even on the right way myself.- Gerhard Reimer-Wiebe in Adult and Teen Challenge video
He had struggled with his meth addiction since the age of 14, said Anstett, and after two attempts at treatment in Bolivia, he and his wife immigrated to Canada. His uncle helped Reimer-Wiebe gain Canadian citizenship in hopes of a "fresh start."
But his addiction remained and was causing serious harm to his marriage, according to the lawyer.
"When my wife and I got married, I had no idea what a married life even looked like," Reimer-Wiebe said in his video.
"We had two children and I didn't know how to handle this in the right way. I tried really hard to show them the right way, when I wasn't even on the right way myself."
'Free from my sin'
During treatment, Reimer-Wiebe became a leader in various roles, completed a car repair program and was looking forward to using his farm and machinery skills from Bolivia to get a job where he could support his family.
"I can say that I'm 100 per cent free from my sin, and I'm so happy and thankful to God for what he's also done in our marriage," he said in his video.
Judge Eyrikson granted a conditional discharge, ordering Reimer-Wiebe to abstain from drugs, stay away from his co-accused, and report to a probation officer.
He had the experience to be able to help others, and he liked to be able to do that.- Pastor Terry Thiessen
Eyrikson acknowledged that it can be very difficult to transition back to the community after treatment. However, he took into account that Reimer-Wiebe had no prior criminal record, thrived in the Teen Challenge program and had honed skills with which he could support his family.
If he complied with the conditions for nine months, he would have no criminal record.
"There are rewards for doing what you have done," said Eyrikson.
"Good luck to you. I hope you can get your life back, as you deserve it."
Reimer-Wiebe's remains were found seven months later on Baker Street in Portage la Prairie. Police believe he had been killed and his body placed there a few days before it was found, and are asking anyone with information about what Reimer-Wiebe was doing between May 15 and June 20 to come forward.
Thiessen said he can't comment on what happened to Reimer-Wiebe after he completed the program in January, but said there is a voluntary community support aspect of Adult and Teen Challenge.
"He understood the journey that he had been on, and with the situation that he was in, he had the experience to be able to help others, and he liked to be able to do that as well," said Thiessen.
"As were a lot of people, he was very proud of himself and was looking forward to rebuilding relationships outside of our program, and he was working towards that."
