Charlottetown Police Chief Brad MacConnell announced Friday that an arrest has been made and charges laid in the November 11, 1988 murder of 36-year old Byron Carr.
Late Thursday morning, Charlottetown Police arrested 56-year old Todd Joseph Gallant of Souris, who is also known as Todd Joseph Irving. Police say they have significant forensic evidence to believe that he is responsible for the death of Byron Carr. Police say Gallant was 21 years old at the time of the murder and believed to have been living in the Charlottetown area at the time.
On Friday morning, an information was filed at the provincial court, charging Gallant with one count of First Degree Murder, and one count of Interfering with Human Remains.
A second individual was also arrested Thursday morning in connection with the case. However, MacConnell says that individual was released late Thursday afternoon. The investigation is continuing to determine what, if any, involvement in the activities involving Byron Carr’s death. Police are not releasing any identifying information about that person at this time.
Chief MacConnell says the scope of the investigation has been extensive.as they have leveraged advanced DNA testing and investigative genetic genealogy to lead to the arrest of Gallant. MacConnell says that advancements in DNA technology and the utilization of techniques that weren’t always available in this investigation were a difference in being able to make the arrest.
Byron Carr’s family members were at the news conference as police announced the arrest. Byron Carr’s brother John spoke at the news conference, and fighting back tears, he said it’s been a long 35 years since Byron’s murder. He offered a special thank you to Charlottetown Police Services, which he says did a lot of work, especially in the last few years to piece this together. The family also thanked members of the public who assisted Police and the Carr family over the years. John did say the family is sad that it did take 35 years for Thursday’s arrest to be made, as both of Byron’s parents have since passed away – but he says this would have been very important to them as the next step in pursuing justice for Byron.
