SAULT STE. MARIE -- A Sault Ste. Marie man who aspired to run for mayor in the last election has been charged with murder in Los Angeles, SooToday has learned.
Jeffery Gary Primeau was arrested Feb. 9 in connection with a killing that allegedly occurred almost three months earlier, on Nov. 22, 2023, according to records retrieved by SooToday from the Superior Court of California.
Primeau was denied bail and remanded into custody during a Feb. 16 hearing at the Airport Courthouse in Los Angeles County, records show. His next court date is scheduled for March 14.
SooToday has been unable to confirm details of the alleged murder. Reached Sunday, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department directed us to the district attorney’s office, which has yet to return our voicemail.
However, a news article published earlier this month by the Westside Current in Los Angeles said an unnamed Canadian man surrendered to police on Feb. 9 and confessed to killing his partner.
The man claimed to have acted in self-defence after the woman allegedly threatened him with a knife, the report says.
“Following his confession, police were directed to an RV parked near the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), where they discovered the woman's body, which had significantly decomposed,” the article states. “The vehicle was immediately seized for a thorough investigation.”
Numerous sources confirmed to SooToday that Primeau is the unnamed Canadian referred to in the article.
A longtime local resident, Primeau was featured in a SooToday story in 2022 when he fell just two signatures short of becoming a mayoral candidate in the municipal election.
Primeau waited until the final day to collect the mandatory 25 signatures on his nomination form. When the deadline passed, he had 23.
“I cannot wait for the next election, because I will not wait for the last minute,” Primeau said at the time. “I will be putting in my candidacy on the first day, not the last day.”
The article said Primeau worked in Algoma Steel's utilities department as an insulator and asbestos abatement worker.
Primeau is charged with a single count of murder under section 187(a) of the California Penal Code: “the unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought and without legal justification.”
The allegation has yet to be tested in court and Primeau is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
SooToday will provide more details on this case as they become available.