By Chelsea Laskowski

UPDATE: Man in court facing manslaughter charges in historical case

Jun 9, 2014 | 12:21 PM

A man charged with manslaughter has people waiting on his return to a mine in the north, according to his representation.

Michael LaRocque, 29, was in Prince Albert Provincial Court Monday morning, facing charges in relation to a mobile home fire in Uranium City in 2010. The home was 15 kilometres outside the community.

The remains of Jack Cochrane and Phillip Nighttraveller were found in the burned out mobile home on Jan. 4, 2010.

RCMP’s Historical Case Unit North wasn’t able to reveal what led to LaRocque’s arrest since it’s before the courts right now, but Cpl. Doug Nordick did have some details on past investigation.

“The cause of fire was deemed suspicious at the time and some persons of interest were identified early on in the investigation,” Nordick said.

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He said those identifications helped greatly once the case was passed onto his unit from the Major Crimes Unit.

“We’re fortunate here this last weekend to secure enough evidence to support the laying of manslaughter charges in this investigation.”

There wasn’t any sign of a motive for the fire, which is why the charge is manslaughter not murder, Nordick explained.

On Monday, a handful of people who identified themselves as LaRocque’s family were in court as his counsel stated LaRocque is in a supervisory position in a mine in the north.

LaRocque’s counsel added that LaRocque has been in custody for five days and didn’t want any delays in seeking bail.

The bail hearing was set for Thursday in La Ronge. 

His family members said he is from Stony Rapids.

A community member contacted in Uranium City declined comment, but said even though the incident was four years ago, it is still fresh for the community of less than 200 people.

Nordick said with this population in mind, “it was a big impact on the community to have two of their community members die in a single event like this so it was quite a shock.”

“I have spoken with both families and both were very happy to hear of the charges being laid. Obviously it doesn’t bring back their loved ones that are lost in this incident. But it does help the process of healing and start the closure process as far as getting some of the answers as to why this happened.”

Nordick explained most of the cases taken on by the Historical Case Unit North are between five and 15 years old, making this one of their most recent ones.

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