A Sault Ste. Marie man charged in Los Angeles with killing a woman had a very active Facebook account that suddenly went quiet around the time of the alleged murder.
As SooToday reported earlier today, Jeff Primeau was arrested Feb. 9 in connection with a killing that allegedly occurred almost three months earlier, on Nov. 22, 2023, according to records retrieved from the Superior Court of California.
A former insulator and asbestos worker in Algoma Steel’s utilities department, Primeau attempted to run for mayor of Sault Ste. Marie in 2022 but was unable to collect enough signatures on his nomination form before the deadline passed.
Beginning last November, Primeau started uploading photos and videos to his Facebook page that documented a cross-country journey through the United States. He can be seen travelling in an RV and chatting alongside a woman just days before the alleged murder.
According to Primeau’s Facebook posts, the two were first pictured together in that same RV on Sept. 17, around two months before they crossed from Canada into the U.S. It is currently unknown how the two met.
Prior to his entry into the U.S., Primeau also uploaded photos between mid-September and mid-November that appear to highlight a walk he was taking from Searchmont to London.
According to a news article published earlier this month by the Westside Current in Los Angeles, an unnamed Canadian man surrendered to the Los Angeles Police Department on Feb. 9 and confessed to killing his partner.
“Following his confession, police were directed to an RV parked near the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), where they discovered the woman's body, which had significantly decomposed,” the article states. “The vehicle was immediately seized for a thorough investigation.”
The man claimed to have acted in self-defence after the woman allegedly threatened him with a knife, the report says.
Numerous sources confirmed to SooToday that Primeau is the unnamed Canadian referred to in that article.
On Nov. 12, ten days before the alleged murder, Primeau uploaded two videos of himself and a woman in an RV.
In the first video, which was recorded around 11:30 a.m., Primeau mentioned the two of them were “still finding out a lot about each other, like what our real names are,” which was followed by a laugh from the woman.
In the second video, recorded at 5:30 p.m. that same day, Primeau mentioned they had just entered the U.S. at the Port Huron–Sarnia border crossing.
“The adventure begins,” he said. “We crossed the border without a problem. They asked where we’re going, I said ‘Arizona.’ They said, ‘For how long?’ I said, ‘For three or four months,’ and he says, ‘Okay, have a great day.’ Yeah, it’s cool being chill.”
Additional posts from Primeau showed that the pair arrived in the town of Friendship, Arkansas on Nov. 15.
The next day, he announced his arrival in Texas with a post that read: “After almost getting in a knife fight… I found peace in Texas.”
Between Nov. 16 and 19, Primeau uploaded several photos and videos of himself spending time with acquaintances in several Texas communities.
Primeau’s last publicly available post before the alleged murder on Nov. 22 was in Llano, Texas. He shared photos and videos of a barbecue he attended on Nov. 19.
He didn't post again for approximately six weeks, until New Year's Day. "I am alive!!!" he wrote. "Be healthy, happy and humble."
That post on Jan. 1, 2024, included photos from Salvation Mountain near Niland, California — an artistic tribute to God designed by Leonard Knight, according to the attraction's website.
After his Feb. 9 arrest, Primeau was denied bail and remanded into custody during a Feb. 16 hearing at the Airport Courthouse in Los Angeles County, records show. His next court date is scheduled for March 14.
Primeau is charged with a single count of murder under section 187(a) of the California Penal Code: “the unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought and without legal justification.”
The allegation has yet to be tested in court and Primeau is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Police have not identified the victim.
Reached for a second time Monday, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department directed SooToday to the district attorney’s office, which has yet to return our request for comment.
