A woman is rehashing the night her mother was murdered in Rosthern, as RCMP lay charges against a man in the case.
Frances Wendland was 43 years old when she was bound, gagged and murdered in her home on December 14, 1985. She died of asphyxiation.
Last Friday, Dennis Henry Hahn, 65, was arrested in Surrey, BC. He is charged with first-degree murder and unlawful confinement in Wendland’s death.
Speaking with Newstalk Radio’s MainStreet on Tuesday afternoon, Kerri Wendland explained that she was just eight years old when her mother was killed. Kerri was in the house at the time, locked in a bathroom with her younger sister and a friend.
The trio eventually got out.
“We found (Mom) in her bedroom on the floor. She was facing the door. She was tied up, and we just kind of knew she was gone,” said Kerri.
All three ran to her friend’s house two blocks away to get help.
In 1990, Don Marlow was charged as an accessory to the murder of Wendland. He was convicted a year later.
Kerri said she was thrilled to hear about Hahn’s arrest. However, Kerri still struggles with the murder; she explained that she learned last year that her father was directly involved with arranging the murder with Don Marlow.
“That really threw me for a loop. I was pretty angry for a while. But when push comes to shove, he was still my dad. I still love him.”
Her father committed suicide in 1989.
When asked about how she remembers her mom, Kerri said Frances was a woman with a heart of gold and loved to laugh.
“She was the kind of lady that would give you her last dollar, would give you the shirt off her back,” Kerri described.
“Every day I look at my kids and I wish they would have known her.”
Hahn made his first court appearance on the murder charges Monday in Saskatoon.
BHilton@rawlco.com
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