Texas murder suspect arrested in Halifax ordered held following detention review

MONTREAL — A man suspected of murder in Texas and arrested by police in Halifax in December will remain detained following another hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on Wednesday.

Derek Cameron Whisenand has been detained since his arrest Dec. 30 after police were called about a shoplifter at a business in the city’s Bayer’s Lake area.

Whisenand was arrested after a short chase and gave a false name to authorities, according to an IRB transcript of his initial detention review.

He was evasive with police and was subsequently turned over to the Canada Border Services Agency. He will remain detained until another detention review and admissibility hearing on Jan. 24.

Continued detention was ordered Wednesday after he was deemed a flight risk and a danger to the Canadian public.

Whisenand, who wasn’t represented by a lawyer at the hearing in Montreal, appeared via video link and requested an adjournment to find legal representation.

The 28-year-old is a suspect in the death of a 78-year-old man in Eastland County, Texas, about 170 kilometres southwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

In July, RCMP warned that he had illegally crossed into Canada near Haskett, Man., sometime during the week of June 24.

According to a transcript of his detention review last week, arrest warrants were issued in early July on both sides of the border after the Canada Border Services Agency was notified of the discovery of his abandoned vehicle.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 8, 2020.

The Canadian Press