Henry Leland House to be renamed after namesake identified as suspect in 40-year-old homicide

“There’s no question about it,” Hughes told CFJC Today Wednesday (May 20).

Formerly called the Whistler Inn, the building’s dedication came about two years after Leland’s passing in December 2007 due to exposure.

“It was the first building in the community programmed to really tackle helping people get off the streets and into housing,” Hughes said. “The support from the city, was I think, quite unequivocal that this was the right thing to do, to name it after Henry Leland.”

“It’s been well received in the community and the neighbourhood, and I don’t think that’s been diminished. Its simply new information comes forward and we have to take the proper steps to recognize the harms he’s inflected here.”

While Hughes said by all accounts Leland was regarded “as a kind soul,” opinion about him began to change last week after police in Wenatchee said DNA evidence linked Leland to the 1986 killing of 35-year-old Carol Traicoff.

In a statement, Wenatchee police said Traicoff’s death was deemed to be a “homicidal assault.”

Police said a forensic review of the case in 2023 identified additional DNA of an unknown man, and that that evidence was submitted to an organization specializing in forensic genetic geneaology, which identified a possible family lineage within the U.S. and Canada.

“On February 24, 2025, the [Washington State Police] Crime Lab reported that Henry B. Leland of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada was identified as our suspect,” the statement said.

Investigators say they tracked down Leland’s only known living biological relative, a sister living in Gold Bar, Washington, who helped confirm Leland as the suspect in Traicoff’s homicide.

“Based on the investigation, it is believed that on or around May 14, 1986, Henry B. Leland killed Carol Traicoff,” Wenatchee police said. “There is no current evidence to suggest another suspect and it is believed that Leland and Traicoff were alone at the time. This investigation is officially closed.”

Shock and Horror

Hughes said he felt “shock and horror” when he first learned of the development through media reports.

“My first reaction from that point was obviously thinking about the family and how their relentless pursuit of justice for the loss of their loved one was something that resulted in the implication of Henry Leland in the homicide,” Hughes said.

This is not the first time that ASK Wellness has had to change the name of one of its buildings. In 2018, Osborne House was renamed to Mission Flats Manor just days after it opened following complaints about the building’s namesake – Donald Osborne’s – criminal past.

“It’s the perils of naming a building after somebody as much as it may have been well intentioned and was well supported for many many years,” Hughes added. “This situation emerges where we find out [Henry] was not the person we knew and obviously committed a horrendous offence.”

Consultation on New Name Underway

Hughes said the downtown building will remain nameless pending further consultation with Indigenous stakeholders as Leland was an Indigenous man. He said he has already reached out to Tkemlúps te Secwepemc and the Skeetchestn Indian Band for guidance and support regarding next steps.

“I think in due time, we’ll identify an appropriate name,” Hughes noted. “I think its critical to basically cleanse the building of the harms and history and trauma that this evokes primarily for women, and of course, Indigenous women and so that’s where we’ll go with this for now.”

Hughes also said it is important to not forget that Leland froze to death on the streets of Kamloops, saying that aspect of his story “is not one that we can ignore.”

“But right now, its about taking a step back and acknowledging what this family in Washington is going through and frankly what so many of the missing and murdered Indigenous women are across our province,” Hughes said.

“This evokes a tremendous amount of trauma and rage that this violence existed back in 1986 and it still exists today. It’s a sobering time to consider what we need to do to recognize the need for this building to release the Henry Leland name and his story and the harms that he’s done.”

by Victor Kaisar

Henry Leland House to be renamed after namesake identified as suspect in 40-year-old homicide

Shock and Horror

Consultation on New Name Underway

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