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Police investigate beating death

Body discovered in Hay River motel room

Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services

Hay River (Jan 21/02) - A 50-year-old man found dead Jan. 17 was beaten to death, according to a friend.

"It was just a senseless death," said co-worker and friend Victoria Sideen. She and two others found the victim in his apartment just before noon Thursday.

NNSL Photo

Const. Walter Orb guards the door to the motel room where Yves Labelle's body was found. - Dave Sullivan/NNSL photo


Yves Labelle's body was discovered at Cedar Rest Motel. The low-rent bachelor apartments are above Big Way Foods, a grocery store on the highway, near the southern end of town.

According to the coroner's office, it's the first murder in Hay River in five years.

Two men are in custody, according to Staff Sgt. Phil Johnson of the RCMP's G Division.

Sideen said the suspects were known to the victim, supposedly as friends. She also said she believes Labelle was killed was over a woman.

Charged with second-degree murder is 36-year-old Craig Stromberg. He is now in jail, and is scheduled to appear in territorial court Feb. 11.

Another man, identified by police only as an male adult resident of Hay River, is also in custody. As of Friday, he had not been charged with a crime.

Nicknamed "French," Labelle moved to the North several years ago from Quebec. He drove from there to Inuvik, and also spent time in Yellowknife before settling in Hay River.

For the past two years he had a maintenance job with Cedar Rest owner Norm Hill.

"He was harmless. He stayed by himself and never tried to hurt anybody," Sideen said.

"I'm still in shock."

Labelle was so reliable that Sideen, manager John Hill and another employee decided to check on him a few hours after he hadn't gone downstairs to the store at his usual 7 a.m. time.