Giesbrecht remembered as ‘kind-natured’ man

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This article was published 28/01/2023 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Shocked to learn that his remains had been found and his death deemed a homicide by police, a Brandon woman remembers her friend as a quiet and kind-hearted man who loved his children.

Angie Sellars said she was introduced to James Vernon Giesbrecht in Brandon by a mutual friend about four or five years ago.

“Right when I met him, I knew he was just such a kind-natured guy, and he was,” Sellars said during an interview Friday. “He was just quiet, and he was just all around so kind.”

RCMP say they’re treating Giesbrecht’s death as a homicide. They found the 37-year-old’s body on the outskirts of Brandon in the Rural Municipality of Cornwallis in mid-October, but say they were only able to identify him earlier this month after working with an anthropologist and the office of the Chief Medical Officer.

In the meantime, Giesbrecht had been reported missing from the Brandon area on Dec. 12, and at that time Brandon police issued a request for help finding him as he hadn’t been seen or in contact with his family since Oct. 16.

Earlier this week, in the press release announcing Giesbrecht’s identity and the status of his case as a homicide, Mounties said they believed Giesbrecht had interacted with a number of people in late September and early October and asked those people to come forward with information. Other than that, however, police have released no details.

Sellars said she last had contact with Giesbrecht via text message a couple of months before he was reportedly last seen or had contact with his family. Giesbrecht suggested they get together, she said, but Sellars had family matters to attend to so she couldn’t.

Later, realizing she hadn’t seen her friend in a while, she said she tried to reach Giesbrecht but couldn’t. The next she heard anything about him was the missing person report which left her shocked, she said, and she was just as surprised to learn this week that his body had been found and his foul play was suspected.

“I never knew him to be involved in any drama, or any kind of bad situation with anyone … There was nothing I heard about him having any beef with anybody. He just wasn’t like that.”

Sellars said Giesbrecht wasn’t a partier and didn’t drink. He kept personal matters to himself, and Sellars said she didn’t pry.

What she knows, however, is that Giesbrecht was from northern Manitoba and had lived in The Pas. An Indigenous person, she understands that he had ties to Peguis First Nation.

Giesbrecht, who Sellars said was a father of three, loyally kept in touch with his children and had cared for his ailing grandmother when he’d lived up north.

“He was all about his kids and he would always stay in touch with them very faithfully,” Sellars said.

In Brandon, Giesbrecht had stayed in a basement suite at one point. When they got together, about once a month, he would take her to Harvey’s for a burger or they would hang out or shop at the mall.

“I saw him as much as I could, but he didn’t have a vehicle or a licence so it was hard to get together with him, but when we did we always had a good time.”

In their request for help finding Giesbrecht, Brandon police noted that his family believed he may have been living in a homeless encampment around Brandon and were concerned about his well-being.

Sellars said she hadn’t heard of Giesbrecht being homeless, although she didn’t know where he had been living in the city and wonders if homelessness might be the reason he was hard to reach shortly before his death.

» ihitchen@brandonsun.com