A veteran RCMP constable was arrested Saturday and charges were laid Sunday
after his wife’s body was found inside a home in a southeast Edmonton
neighbourhood.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has charged RCMP
constable Tarith Sehmbi with second degree murder. Mr. Sehmbi’s first
appearance in court is expected to be on Monday, July 12, in Edmonton.
Clifton Purvis, a spokesman with the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team,
which investigates incidents involving police, says officers were called to
the home in the Jackson Heights neighbourhood after 4 a.m. MDT to a report
of shots being fired.
He refused to say how she may have died, adding that an autopsy will be done
to help determine that.
Purvis also wouldn’t comment on whether police had seized a weapon in
connection with the woman’s death.
The 36-year-old constable, who has been with the RCMP for more than seven years,
was arrested at around 5:30 a.m. at another location, though Purvis wouldn’t
say where.
Neighbours said the couple has two young children who were often seen
playing in the area, but Purvis said there were no children in the home at
the time of the woman’s slaying.
Purvis said the investigation is receiving the oversight agency’s “utmost
priority.” At least eight people have been assigned to look into the case and the
agency is also receiving help from homicide investigators with the Edmonton
Police Service and the medical examiner’s office, Purvis added.
-with files from the Canadian Press
