HALIFAX — Two men have been charged in connection with what Halifax police now say is the murder of a 16-year-old who went missing two years ago.
Halifax Regional Police say 26-year-old Treyton Alexander Marsman was arrested Monday and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Devon Sinclair Marsman. A second man — a 20-year-old who was a youth at the time of the homicide — has been charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder and obstructing justice.
"These charges do not mark the end of this investigation," Halifax police Chief Don MacLean said during a media briefing Tuesday. "We believe there were others involved in this homicide and there will be further arrests in this case."
MacLean confirmed the Marsmans "share a familial relationship," but he declined to be more specific.
Treyton Marsman has also been charged with causing indignity to human remains and obstructing justice. The identity of the 20-year-old suspect is protected from publication because he was under 18 at the time of the alleged crime.
Investigators would not say where or when the remains were found, but confirmed the province's medical examiner is working on identification.
The police chief said he believes there are people who know what happened to Devon Marsman but have yet to share that information with investigators.
"It is never too late to come forward," MacLean said.
Devon Marsman was last seen on Feb. 24, 2022, and he was reported missing from the Spryfield area of Halifax early the next month.
At the time, police said they had no reason to suspect foul play was involved in the teenager's disappearance, but that changed about seven months later. In October 2022, police said the disappearance was considered suspicious.
When asked why it took several months to make that determination, acting deputy chief Andrew Matthews did not directly answer.
"Investigations as a whole take a long period of time to conduct and complete," he said.
In November 2022, about nine months after Marsman went missing, a $150,000 reward was offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction. The reward was raised to $250,000 this past April.
Matthews said a great deal of information from the public has been shared with police, but he said it's too early to know if those tips will result in the payout of the reward.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press
