Native probe hears of girl's murder

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The Pas, Man.

Seventeen years ago, RCMP knew the identities of four men involved in the slaying of a Cree teenage, an inquiry heard.

Keith Duncan, a former RCMP officer who investigated the murder, said one of the suspects, Lee Colgan, was arrested on another charge months after the 1971 murder and

plea-bargained for immunity from prosecution if he'd confess.

Helen Betty Osborne, 19, was stabbed 56 times with a screwdriver and sexually assaulted on Nov. 13.

Police said the four men were not suspects until after the receipt of an anonymous letter in May 1972.

Osborne was assaulted and slain after being abducted from a street in The Pas by four teenagers who were cruising the town looking for sex.

Charges were not laid for another 16 years and resulted in only one conviction. The case has unleashed a storm of controversy about whether the trail of the murder was allowed to

grow cold because of racism.