Thirty years later: Man extradited from Mexico in Vancouver cold-case murder

PENTICTON — Vancouver police have charged a Mexican national with second-degree murder in the 1996 killing of Canada Post worker Muriel Lindsay, closing a three-decade cold case after extraditing the suspect from Mexico..Juan Manuel Rueda Salud, 68, was escorted by Vancouver Police Department investigators from Mexico to Vancouver on Wednesday and remains in custody. He is accused of murdering Lindsay, 40, on or about February 16, 1996, in her West End apartment.Lindsay, a letter sorter who worked the afternoon shift at the Canada Post building on Georgia Street and was a cancer survivor, lived in a second-floor suite in a heritage house in the 1100-block of Comox Street in the Mole Hill neighbourhood. Her mother, Marjorie, found her fatally beaten the next day after she failed to report for work. Police previously reported she died from blows to the head. She was still wearing her work clothes..Rueda Salud lived in the same building at the time. He left Canada for Mexico in March 1996 — about a month after the murder.He was formally charged on November 2, 2024, and arrested under a provisional warrant in Mexico on January 22, 2025. After roughly 18 months in custody while appealing the extradition order, he became eligible for return to Canada on July 15. VPD officers flew to Mexico on Monday and brought him back on Wednesday.Inspector Ryan Smith, who spent 12 years investigating the case under Project Honour, said the family was “overjoyed” at the charge even as it opens another difficult chapter..“Muriel Lindsay was 40 and working at Canada Post on Georgia Street at the time of her death,” Smith said. “She was deeply loved by friends and family, and she is sorely missed to this day. While it is a relief to see a charge finally laid in this matter, it marks the start of another sad chapter for Muriel’s loved ones. Our thoughts are with them now.”Smith said forensic investigators gathered considerable evidence at the scene. The probe involved Canadian agencies, partners at BCIT’s Forensic Science and Technology program, and counterparts in Mexico and the United States. He declined to discuss specific evidence because the matter is before the courts.“This was a complex case that involved multiple agencies and many officers,” Smith said. “It shows our collective commitment to solving cold cases, regardless of how long it takes.”.Veteran Vancouver Sun crime reporter Kim Bolan, who has long covered the file, detailed in earlier reporting and her Thursday story the strange events Lindsay experienced in the months before her death. Lindsay told co-wokers she believed she was being stalked. One of her cats went missing. After she posted notices, a note was slipped under her door claiming she owed a veterinary bill. Unauthorized subscriptions to The Vancouver Sun and magazines arrived, and a $120 donation was made in her name to the United Way.Three weeks before the killing, Lindsay’s mother received a letter at her home that began “Hi Scum.” It referred to Muriel turning 40, urged her to “start acting like an adult and not like a teenager,” and told her to stop smoking because “You stink.”Marjorie Lindsay did not show her daughter the letter. Bolan interviewed the mother about the threats and other details in 2006..Former police officer and crime commentator Leo Knight reacted to the VPD announcement on X, writing: “Outstanding job by VPD in a 30 year old case.”.Rueda Salud has been remanded in custody. The case is before the courts.

Thirty years later: Man extradited from Mexico in Vancouver cold-case murder

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