December 15, 2008
Arrest in fatal beatingMurder charge laid in man’s death downtown
By SHANNON VANRAES, SUN MEDIA
WINNIPEG — An arrest has been made in the fatal beating of a 45-year-old man at a downtown Manitoba Housing complex Saturday morning.
Ivan Malachi Anderson, 27, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Mark Arnold Harreveld. Police were called about 8:25 a.m. Saturday after a body was found in a suite at 185 Smith St., where Harreveld lived.
Winnipeg police did not say when or where Anderson was arrested. The homicide unit is still investigating the killing.
Harreveld’s family described him as a gentle man living with disabilities.
“Mark was handicapped. He was in a car accident when he was 15 years old and had permanent brain damage,” said his mother, Jarda Harreveld, adding her son was good-natured and easygoing.
The 81-year-old said she was shocked when police told her her son had been killed, and that he had been beaten to death.
“Mark was a strong guy, it would take a lot to get him down,” said Jarda, adding her son was 6-foot-2 and weighed about 225 pounds.
“I don’t know why anyone would do this to him.”
She began to worry about him Saturday morning when he didn’t show up at her house to shovel the driveway, adding they were usually in close contact.
“He put up my Christmas tree last week,” said Jarda Harreveld. “And he comes every week to shovel my driveway.”
She said Mark lived with her until about a year and a half ago, when they decided it would be best for him to have his own place.
“He liked living there very much,” she said of his downtown apartment. “He called to tell me he could see the fireworks from The Forks one night.”
Jarda said she had never heard her son mention the man charged in his death and didn’t know if he lived in the building.
Residents of the housing complex said Mark’s body was discovered by his girlfriend. They described Mark as a quiet and kind person.
Const. Jacqueline Chaput, a spokeswoman for Winnipeg police, could not say yesterday whether the victim and the accused knew one other.
Anderson remains in custody at the Winnipeg Remand Centre.
Jarda Harreveld said Mark’s brother lives in Florida but is flying in today or tomorrow to help make final arrangements.
The slaying is Winnipeg’s 27th homicide of the year, up from 26 in 2007.
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