The Detectives

Reflecting on the impact of Banff's most violent homicide

When 23-year-old cab driver, Lucie Turmel, was found brutally murdered in Banff, Alta., Detective Nigel Paterson was one of the first on the scene. This was the only murder he had ever experienced in his hometown.

Reflecting on the impact of Banff’s most violent homicide

4 years ago
Duration 3:47
A Banff native, Detective Nigel Paterson takes us back to the scene of the only murder he'd ever experienced in his hometown. Paterson worked the case full-time for over two years, experiencing first-hand how this violent incident rocked the small town.

When 23-year-old cab driver, Lucie Turmel, was found brutally murdered in Banff, Alta., Detective Nigel Paterson was one of the first on the scene. This was the only murder Paterson, a Banff native, had ever experienced in his hometown. He worked the case full-time for over two years.

"The memories of this case certainly are very vivid. It's like it happened yesterday," Paterson said.

He returns to the scene of the murder, 28 years after helping to solve the case. He wants to understand the impact of this tragedy on the town.

"When you only have four or five thousand people that are permanent residents, chances are a lot of people knew the victim, so it has a very personal, direct effect on people."

In the video above, Paterson talks to residents who reflect on how Lucie's death changed them and their close-knit community.