EARLY LIFE:
Geraldine Leona Settee was born on January 20, 1958, as the youngest of 10 children. She spent the early years of her life on Matheson Island, a Métis community at the narrows of Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, before her family relocated to the big city, moving to St. Anne’s Road in Winnipeg.
Growing up, Geraldine was known for her enthusiasm and sensibility. While she had typical preteen interests – music, animals and playing pranks – she was also very smart, and this intelligence influenced how she approached the world.
Sadly, the 11-year-old’s life was cut short in 1970, when she was found murdered.
MURDER:
At around 8:00 PM on January 1, 1970, Geraldine left home to purchase some potato chips and pop from the drugstore at 813 St. Mary’s Road. Along with $1.30 in change, she had with her the transistor radio her father, Leonard, had got her for Christmas.
Given how close the drugstore was to the Settee residence, Geraldine wasn’t expected to be gone for long – eight minutes, at the most. However, when 25 minutes had gone by with no word from her, Leonard grew worried. He asked one of the 11-year-old’s siblings to go look for her, which is when they realized the business wasn’t open and Geraldine was nowhere to be found
The next morning, the Settee family went out searching for Geraldine. At 11:00 AM, her sister and brother-in-law discovered her partially frozen body in a vacant lot next to 785 St. Mary’s Road, at Fremor Avenue. While they didn’t know it at the time, the local emergency number had received a call from an unknown person earlier that day, saying her body could be found at the site. Before any more details could be gathered, the individual hung up.
An autopsy showed that Geraldine had been stabbed five times in the back and chest with a spring-blade knife that was two centimetres in width and between 15-18 centimetres in length. Some of the blows were so strong that they went through her sternum and broke a rib, leading investigators at the time to theorize that the culprit was likely male.
Geraldine was fully clothed when she was found, with three buttons from her jacket found beneath her body. She wasn’t sexually assaulted, nor was she robbed, and the police wouldn’t say if they ever found the murder weapon.
INVESTIGATION:
At the time, police services in Winnipeg weren’t centralized within one force. As such, the now-defunct St. Vital Police was in charge of the initial investigation. At the time, no witnesses came forward, and while persons of interest were brought in for questioning, all were released.
While speaking with the media, Leonard revealed Geraldine had answered a phone call on December 5, 1969, which left her incredibly scared. The day after, she fainted when the phone rang again. It was only after her murder that the family learned two teenagers from the area had been threatened by another young person with a knife one week prior to Geraldine’s death. It’s believed this person was the one who called the house and was responsible for what happened to the 11-year-old.
In 1971, a $1,500 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual(s) involved. Sadly, just one year after that, Leonard passed away, never seeing his daughter’s murderer brought to justice.
The same year the reward was announced, a youth was interrogated and charged in relation with Geraldine’s murder under the Juvenile Delinquents Act. However, the charge was stayed in 1972, due to a lack of evidence.
Over 50 years after the tragic event, little headway has been made. The Winnipeg Police Service claims the Homicide Unit is currently looking into the case and, as such, is unable to comment on the investigation. Hoping to generate leads, the family runs the Facebook group, Justice for Geraldine Settee.
CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Anyone with information regarding the circumstances surrounding Geraldine’s murder or the person(s) responsible is asked to contact Winnipeg Crime Stoppers at (204) 786-8477. All tips can be submitted anonymously.
Image Credit: Find a Grave
Stories of the Unsolved 