A Camrose man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2020 death of Lisa Arsenault, who was found dead in a south Edmonton motel. Ian Stewart Gainer was initially charged with first-degree murder in Arsenault’s death in May 2020. He pleaded guilty Friday morning to the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
Read more: Edmonton police charge 1st degree murder in Lisa Arsenault’s homicide
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Edmonton police charge 1st degree murder in Lisa Arsenault’s homicide
Arsenault, 48, was found dead inside a suite at the Royal Lodge just off Gateway Boulevard near 38th Avenue on May 24, 2020. In an agreed statement of facts, the court heard that Gainer had staked out the motel, watching it in the days before the murder. He later told police he believed Arsenault was involved in a large cocaine-trafficking ring and assumed she would have a lot of money on her, which he could take. He never took money from the victim. Story continues below ad CCTV footage from outside the motel, obtained by police, showed Arsenault entering the suite at 1:40 p.m. on May 24, 2020. Gainer followed her three minutes later, holding a dark object in his hand.
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Gainer was inside the motel suite for 14 minutes and no one else entered or left the room, the agreed statement of facts details. He then left the area in a vehicle at around 14:05 Trending Stories
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The video shows a motel employee entering the suite at 7:55 p.m. and to get out by calling 911. Police arrived at the scene at 8 p.m. The court heard that Gainer bound Arsenault with ropes around her wrists and ankles, which would tighten a noose around her neck if she moved. He also covered her head with pantyhose and duct tape. Arsenault died of strangulation and drowning. In August of that year, police released a short surveillance video of the suspect leaving the motel. The video showed a man walking out of a motel suite at Royal Lodge, closing the door and walking away. Two days after the video was released, the man was charged. Edmonton police have released photos of a man they are calling a person of interest in a recent homicide. Edmonton Police Service Read more: Police release composite sketch, surveillance video of south Edmonton homicide suspect Story continues below ad A sentencing date is scheduled to be set in two weeks. With files from Breanna Karstens-Smith, Global News. © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
