UPDATE: In May 2018, Kenneth Dauphinais was charged with second-degree murder of Terrie Dauphinais

“She had a heart of gold,” is how Sue Martin describes her daughter, Terrie Dauphinais.

Beyond that, she said Dauphinais was a fast learner who had many talents.

“She loved to bake, she loved to sew,” she said.

“She could pick up a musical instrument and learn how to play it within the hour, like a saxophone, for instance.”

In April 2010, on the eighth anniversary of Terrie’s death, Crime Stoppers, with the help of the Calgary Police Service’s homicide unit, released a re-­enactment video.

It mentioned that on April 29, 2002, a family member found Dauphinais dead in her own home.

At the time, Det. Spencer Frizzell of the homicide unit said based on evidence at the scene, the offender was familiar with the house.

The video stated at the time that the last person to see Terrie alive was her estranged husband, Ken Dauphinais, who “remains a person of interest.”

In May 2018, Ken Dauphinais, was charged with second-degree murder in connection with Terrie’s death.

Police said new information came to light in August 2017, which led to his arrest.

Police have never released the cause of death, only saying it was very violent.

But in the beginning, Martin said, investigators told her there there was a possibility of it being related to postpartum disorder.

“That wasn’t postpartum. She was beaten from head to toe, neck broken, strangulation,” Martin said.

Martin said Dauphinais, who was Métis with a Cree/Sioux background, lived in fear for years.

“She had low self-­esteem,” Martin said. “She only ever had two boyfriends in her lifetime."

Martin said low self-esteem was also why her daughter never left Ken earlier.

For the past 13 years, Martin has done her own investigating.

“I know on March 8, 2002, the Calgary Police Department was called in for domestic violence," she said, adding that she believes the brush-off cost her daughter’s life.

“I know the police officers needed to go charge them, separate them, and get down to the bottom of who did what, but they didn’t lay charges,” Martin said.