Manitoba

Convicted murderer Traigo Andretti found dead in Saskatchewan psychiatric facility

A man convicted of grisly murders in British Columbia and Manitoba has been found dead in a Saskatchewan psychiatric facility.

Andretti was charged with second degree murder in the 2006 slaying of Myrna Letandre in Manitoba

Traigo Andretti, 40, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Myrna Letandre in Winnipeg. He was already serving a life sentence in the first-degree murder of his wife, Jennifer McPherson, in British Columbia. On Saturday, Andretti was found dead in his cell as Saskatchewan's Regional Psychiatric Centre. (Family photo)

A man convicted of grisly murders in British Columbia and Manitoba has been found dead in a Saskatchewan psychiatric facility.

The Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon issued a statement saying Traigo Ehkid Andretti was found unresponsive in his cell on Saturday and could not be revived.

Corrections officials will review the circumstances surrounding Andretti's death and Saskatoon police and the coroner have been notified.

Andretti, 40, was convicted of first-degree murder in 2014 for the death of his wife, Jennifer McPherson.

Her remains were found scattered on a remote island off the east coast of Vancouver Island.

Andretti was subsequently charged with second-degree murder in the 2006 slaying of Myrna Letandre in Manitoba, for which he later pleaded guilty.

Some of Letandre's dismembered remains were found in 2013 in a Winnipeg rooming house where Andretti had been living.

Both murder convictions carry automatic life sentences and the Manitoba judge overseeing court proceedings in the Letandre murder said Andretti showed an "absence of humanity."

"You should be locked up for the rest of your natural life," Justice Chris Martin told Andretti as he formally passed sentence.

The Regional Psychiatric Centre is described by the Correctional Service as a multi-level security forensic psychiatry facility. It says inmates are housed in direct observation living units.