Suspect in 2023 Regina homicide joins Canada's Top 25 Most Wanted

Daniel “Juma” Drie Atem, wanted in connection to a Regina homicide last summer, is now one of Canada’s Top 25 Most Wanted.

Police have been searching for Atem due to his role in a homicide committed on the 2100 block of Broad Street in the early morning hours of July 29, 2023.

Wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for first degree murder – Atem is described as around six feet three inches tall, weighing 140 pounds with a dark complexion and thin build. He has black hair and brown eyes.

A second suspect in the case, 25-year-old Shedrek Samuel, turned himself in to police in British Columbia in late February.

The announcement came in the form of a news conference in Toronto, featuring representatives from the Toronto Police Service, Toronto Crime Stoppers and the Bolo Program.

The Bolo Program is a nation-wide initiative leveraging social media, technology and other forms of engagement to encourage members of the public to be on the lookout for Canada’s most wanted suspects.

"After exhausting most all of the investigative avenues in an effort to locate and arrest Atem, we submitted our investigation to the Bolo program for their review and consideration," Investigative Services Superintendent for Regina police Trent Stevely told CTV News.

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At the Toronto event, Bolo director Maxime Langlois unveiled $1 million in cash rewards – set to be awarded to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of several most wanted suspects.

“This money does not cost you a dime. This is not police money. It is not funded by taxpayer dollars. The $1 million on the table before me is from Bolo, an initiative funded by the Stefan Cretier Foundation committed to amplifying most wanted cases in the name of safer communities,” he explained.

“This has never been done and is unprecedented.”

Toronto Crime Stoppers Chair Sean Sportun highlighted that all tips remain anonymous but all rewards have an expiry.

“So if you know where these individuals are, if you have any information that can assist the investigators involved in these cases, be empowered to come forward, speak up, break the code of silence and by doing so you’ll be making your community a safer place,” he asked.

“Let’s choose the difficult right over the easy wrong.”

Atem, who is 14th most wanted, is the second Saskatchewan suspect to make the Top 25 list – following the addition of Jonathan Ouellet-Gendron in September of 2023.

Ouellet-Gendron is currently 13th on the list and is wanted by the Saskatoon Police Service on 14 charges including first-degree murder, drug trafficking and firearms offences.

A reward of $50,000 is being offered for information on Ouellet-Gendron's whereabouts. The reward is available until Dec. 3, 2024.

There is currently no reward offered for Atem.

“So what happens is the program, they start with this as a basic first step and then they reassess," Stevely explained. "They might reassess next week, maybe next month, but they've had success just having these amplification media scrums to begin with and then they’ll assess and eventually there could be a reward for his arrest."