Eichler pleads guilty to murders

A former Yorkton resident has pleaded guilty to two Regina murders.

Clayton Bo Eichler had been scheduled to go on trial beginning September 19 for the deaths of Kelly Nicole Goforth and Richele Lee Bear. Goforth’s body was found in a Regina dumpster September 25, 2013. Bear was reported missing August 24, 2013. Her remains have not been found.

Eichler was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Goforth December 31, 2013. Five months later police announced they were charging him with Bear’s first-degree murder as well.

Following a delay Monday morning to deal with a medical issue, Eichler appeared in a Regina Court and pleaded guilty to the lesser included charges of second-degree murder.

The Crown and defence are in agreement on a life sentence with parole eligibility after 20 years, but sentencing was adjourned to give the families of the victims time to prepare victim impact statements.

With the conviction, Eichler is being labelled Regina’s first serial killer, defined by Canadian police as a person responsible for two or more unlawful killings in separate incidents. The distinct incidents differentiate the serial murderer from the mass murderer, who kills multiple people in a continuous act.

Eichler’s murder count may not end with the two current convictions. Police suspect the now 35-year-old in the disappearance of another Regina woman Kimberly Ann Cruikshank.

Cruickshank, who was friends with Eichler and sometimes babysat for him was last seen on March 23, 2013. In April 2015, Kristen Cruickshank told CBC News that Kim had been trying to distance herself from Eichler and in the days before Kim’s disappearance, he had been hounding her to hang out with him.

Eichler grew up in Yorkton and attended Sacred Heart High School. He was connected to the prominent Yorkton Ungar family through a daughter with whom he has a child. According to court documents, it was an abusive relationship. When CBC’s iTeam reported on the connection between Eichler and Cruikshank in April 2015, Gary Ungar told CBC he believed his daughter was “lucky to be alive.”