Indy News: Kurt Lauderdale from IWS arrested on murder charges
Submitted by Matthew Tremley on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 11:52 AM EST







• Shocking end to grim search
  Baby-faced wrestler charged with murder, parents with complicity after investigators unearth remains
  
  The forensics experts and police investigators looked too confident for there to be any doubt.
  
  Within hours of arresting Kurt Lauder, 23, a baby-faced man who wrestles professionally under the name Kurt Lauderdale, and his parents, the Surete du Quebec's search for the body of Shanna Poissant, 16, was over.
  
  Investigators were given information that led them to a wooded area off a bicycle path a few kilometres from any paved road.
  
  Within minutes, they found a fresh mound of earth about 30 metres off the bicycle path and uncovered the body in the dense, mosquito-infested woods. It had been buried in a shallow grave.
  
  Hours before, Lauder was arrested at his parents' home on Highway 219 near Hemmingford, about 50 kilometres south of Montreal.
  
  Police would not say what information led them to the remains after searching another section of the bicycle path last week.
  
  Lauder was taken from SQ headquarters in Montreal to the Valleyfield courthouse, where he appeared at a Quebec Court hearing yesterday afternoon.
  
  The 6-foot-4 wrestler appeared emotionless during his brief appearance. Defence lawyer Leonard Waxman did not enter a plea to the charge of first-degree murder.
  
  Lauder's mother, Suzanne Grosser Lauder, 52, also made a brief appearance in the same courthouse yesterday. She and her husband, Ian Lauder, 61, face charges of being accessories.
  
  "They're very upset by this turn of events," Waxman said.
  
  Ian Lauder was arrested at a Montreal hospital where he is undergoing treatment for respiratory problems. He was unable to appear in court because of his poor health.
  
  Kurt Lauder had met with investigators at least twice during their investigation.
  
  On July 11, Poissant left her home in the late afternoon after telling her parents she was going to see some friends.
  
  Witnesses told investigators they saw her get into Lauder's red pickup that same day. No one reported seeing her after that.
  
  The SQ searched his family's home Thursday night and seized his truck.
  
  The body found yesterday will undergo an autopsy to confirm the identity and determine the cause of death, said Sgt. Francois Dore, an SQ spokesperson.
  
  The SQ's first search for the body lasted two days last week and focused on a specific section of the bike path, about five kilometres west of where the remains were found yesterday.
  
  Waxman said he did not know whether Kurt Lauder provided the information that led police to the body.
  
  "As I understand, (police) had some wiretap evidence and other evidence - fingerprint, blood analysis," Waxman said.
  
  "So it is going to take some time to get the file together. But then we'll study the file and see where we're going, see what the proof is," Waxman said.
  
  "I know Kurt Lauder was interviewed at least two times and had given statements (to the police). He knew he was being investigated and was suspect No. 1, so (his arrest) did not come as a surprise.
  
  "I think this is a tragedy more than anything - a tragedy for both families."
  
  Waxman said he believed Kurt Lauder and Shanna knew each other and might have been friends.
  
  Credit: canada.com
  

  
  

  
  
  

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