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'Why can't they just speak out?' Family of Poplar River homicide victim makes plea to witnesses

A Manitoba family is putting out a public plea for answers in the unsolved killing of the brother and son almost one year ago.

Rick Bruce was found dead in his home on the Poplar River First Nation in July 2018; no arrests have been made

Jillian Taylor · CBC News ·
Maureen Bittern, right, and Norma Bittern still don't know how their brother, Rick Bruce, was killed nearly a year ago in Poplar River. (Submitted by Maureen Bittern)

Maureen Bittern says someone in Poplar River knows who killed her brother Rick Bruce, because his family knows he wasn't alone in the hours before he died on July 7, 2018. 

RCMP are investigating the 47-year-old's death on the Manitoba First Nation as a homicide, but haven't made any arrests.

"Why can't they just speak out?" Bittern said on the phone from Little Grand Rapids. "We want answers to put my mom at ease."

"She sits by the phone and waits for his call, because that was his daily phone call."

Bittern said the family doesn't know how Bruce died, just that he had had a few friends over to his place for drinks the night he was killed.

A person who was in the house that night confirmed that others were there and drinking, but that witness said they blacked out and couldn't provide any details about Bruce's death.

RCMP confirm someone was arrested, but was then released. No charges have been laid in connection to Bruce's death.

Rick Bruce was found dead in his home in Poplar River on July 7, 2018. (Eternal Grace Funerals)

Bittern said RCMP investigators keep in touch with her mother, sister and herself, but can't tell them much.

"I hate it. I hate the fact he got [killed]," she said. "I would accept his death in any other way, but this — it hurts every day."

Bittern said her brother had moved back to Poplar River, about 350 kilometres north of Winnipeg, within the last few years. He was the community's main mechanic and regularly helped the fishermen.

She said her family doesn't understand why someone would want to hurt him. 

"He had a gentle soul … just liked to enjoy time with his friends and family, especially his uncles."

Bruce with his mother, Virginia Whitehead, and sisters Norma, right, and Maureen Bittern. (Submitted by Maureen Bittern)

Bruce had no children of his own but is missed by his nieces, great-nieces and great-nephew, said Bittern.

The family is holding a one-year memorial for Bruce in Winnipeg on July 6.

"I don't think we mourned yet. We're still angry," said Bittern. "What keeps us going is the laughs we had with him."

Anyone with information about Bittern's death is asked to call Poplar River RCMP or Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477 (TIPS).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jillian Taylor

Jillian Taylor is the Executive Producer of News at CBC Manitoba. She started reporting in 2007 and spent more than a decade in the field before moving behind the scenes. Jillian's journalism career has focused on covering issues facing Indigenous people, specifically missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. She is a born-and-raised Manitoban and a member of the Fisher River Cree Nation.

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