Suspect who allegedly killed Husband and wife on Alberta road was ‘well known’ to the couple, says RCMP; here’s how probe unfolded

A man who was trying to escape the law has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder after a husband and wife died in a targeted shooting on a northern rural road in Alberta, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Alberta said, as reported by The Canadian Press on Sunday (December 28, 2025).

Grande Prairie RCMP received a call for an active shooting early Saturday near the intersection of Range Road 35 and Township Road 730, Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said. He further stated that the couple identified as David Lagace, 54, and his wife, Michelle, 44, were found dead next to their car, and their alleged killer was nowhere to be seen.

Suspect identified

According to the RCMP spokesman, investigators quickly identified the suspect in the case named 42-year-old Curtis Phillip Halladay, The Canadian Press reported. Halladay was found and taken into custody on the same day of the shooting in the town of McLennan, northeast of Grand Prairie. He is set to appear in court Jan. 8.

While noting that the suspect was well known to the deceased couple, the spokesman said that he can’t share additional details on how he was identified.

Savinkoff details moments before shooting and how probe unfolded

“(The couple) had been driving (before) the shooting, and it was at that Range Road 35, Township Road 730 location, very, very near that location, where the shooting occurred,” Savinkoff was quoted by The Canadian Press as saying in a Sunday interview.

Amid the search for Halladay, an alert notifying the nearby public to keep an eye out for an armed man remained in place until his arrest, Savinkoff said.

“As the investigation unfolded, we not only had a suspect, but we also had a concern that, because he had just committed these really atrocious crimes, he had access to weapons,” Savinkoff said.