Disturbing the peace

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This article was published 10/04/2017 (2820 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wolseley residents were baffled by the murder of a middle-aged woman on a street in their peaceful neighbourhood that was once dubbed the “Granola Belt” for its progressive politics and homespun wholesomeness.

Police responding to a 911 call at about 3 a.m. Monday found Judy Kenny, 54, dead in her home on the 400 block of Camden Place. She had suffered upper-body injuries. The woman described as “a beautiful lady who wouldn’t hurt a fly” was pronounced dead at the scene — and a neighbour is charged with killing her.

Within minutes of discovering Kenny’s body, police arrested Brenda Lee Schuff, 44, who lives down the street from Kenny’s home.

Winnipeg police Const. Rob Carver would not say whether Schuff was found at the scene. She is charged with second-degree murder.

“We’re still not entirely sure of the relationship or the motive,” Carver said Tuesday, adding an “edged” weapon was used in the slaying.

There was no sign of forced entry and police are not looking for any other suspects, he said.

“This looks to be an isolated incident,” he said.

Kenny was a former administrative assistant who had worked at CTV Winnipeg for about 30 years. She lived alone with two or three dogs.

“It’s quite a shock,” said longtime friend Mihaela Parker. “She was a wonderful person, liked by everybody. She was very easy to get along with and had no harsh feeling about anyone.”

Parker couldn’t remember anyone ever having a bad word to say about Kenny. “She was very kind. She loved animals and she just loved people, in general.”

Another friend who requested anonymity described Kenny as “a beautiful lady” and could not comprehend what had happened.

On Camden Place, one resident who spoke to the Free Press but didn’t want to be identified had a similar impression.

“She was a good neighbour. She was a very warm person.”

With TV news trucks lining the street late Tuesday afternoon, people arriving home from work and walking their dogs said they were shocked by the rare case of a homicide involving two middle-aged women in what is normally a peaceful neighbourhood.

A middle-aged man walking his dog said he was acquainted with both women and he and others on Camden Place who knew them can’t figure out what might have precipitated the homicide. He described Schuff as about five-foot-six, with blonde hair and “pleasant looking.”

Police tape and a cruiser car blocked off the front of the victim’s tidy two-storey home as well as the back lane behind it Tuesday afternoon. Across the back lane, two boys climbed a tree kitty corner from the house where the killing occurred. Along the back lane, Camden Place residents had put out their garbage and recycling and some set aside a third spot for things a passerby might find some use for. One left a neat, clear plastic bag labelled “fabric squares” in case a passing quilter could use them. Three houses down, empty beer cans and bottles were placed tidily in their cartons behind the garage for anyone looking to earn a buck or two by returning them for the deposit.

On a block with such gentle souls, the notion that a woman in her 40s is accused of killing a woman in her 50s is hard to grasp, said one middle-aged woman who lives on the same side of the street as the victim. The neighbour who didn’t give her name said she wasn’t aware of police ever being called to any incidents there earlier and there’s been no indication of any animosity between neighbours.

“It’s bizarre.”

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca 

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca