A true crime investigation into wealth, murder, and silence in rural Alberta
A murder shocks a quiet Alberta town. A widow inherits a fortune. A suspect vanishes without facing charges. And a journalist refuses to let the story die.In 2001, auctioneer Gary Meier was found shot in his home, and the investigation quickly grew cold. Families fractured, legal battles erupted, and unanswered questions haunted the community for decades.
Investigative journalist Lisa Joy spent more than 20 years following the twists and turns of the case, uncovering private investigations, courtroom dramas, and the lingering shadows of a crime that was never solved.
This true crime story isn’t a verdict – it’s a record of what was reported, what remains hidden, and the silence that still surrounds a murder that refused to be solved.
Still No Arrest contains rare crime scene photographs and exposes the secrets behind one of Alberta’s most shocking unsolved murders – a story of money, betrayal, and a silence that refuses to break.
This book is the result of rigorous investigation, with all reporting grounded in court documents, evidence, and sources. In breaking the long silence surrounding this murder, the author has faced an extensive coordinated effort to discredit this work, including threats.
When the threats of violence or defamation lawsuits didn’t deter the author from continuing with the book, the attacks began on her integrity in attempts to discredit her work and stop people from buying this book. However, the opposite happened.
She stands firmly by the factual reporting within these pages. What are they hiding? Here’s what those who know the truth don’t want you to read. The truth they don’t want you to read.
INTRODUCTION: THE CASE THAT WOULDN’T DIE
On a summer morning in August 2001, wealthy Alberta auctioneer Gary Meier was found brutally murdered in his sprawling rural Lacombe County home. The news ripped through our small community, a single gunshot that seemed to echo for years. The case rocked central Alberta, shaking the foundations of our community.
In the 25 years since Gary Meier’s murder, the case has remained unsolved. What began as a local tragedy became a long, tangled pursuit – for truth, for justice, and for answers. I didn’t set out to become part of the story. I was a reporter assigned to cover a suspicious death in a quiet Alberta town. But the deeper I dug, the more the story dug into me. Over the next two decades, I followed the case from newsroom to courtroom, from whispered threats to shattered families. What I uncovered wasn’t just a murder – it was a web of silence, suspicion, and power that stretched far beyond the crime scene.
This book seeks to answer the questions that have haunted this community for decades: What really happened that night? Who silenced Gary Meier, and why did justice slip so completely through the cracks?
As the reporter for the Lacombe Globe assigned to cover the murder, I didn’t just report on the story; I lived it. I witnessed firsthand the tangled web of threats, intimidation, and secrecy that followed. The suspect wasn’t a shadowy stranger. He was Gary’s own trusted hired hand. He was the man who would later stand outside my office window in the dark, staring in.
This book is the story of that investigation, but it’s also my story. It’s about what happens when a journalist becomes a character in the very mystery she is trying to solve.
The official record is one of dead ends and frustrating contradictions. An alleged covert RCMP “Mr. Big” sting operation, designed to secure a confession from the prime suspect, was allegedly compromised. The RCMP told the Meier family they planned to charge him, but the Crown prosecutors later declined, citing insufficient evidence. The suspect – Gary’s hired hand – died in 2014 without ever facing a judge or jury.
Meanwhile, as the criminal investigation faltered, a prolonged estate dispute unfolded over Gary Meier’s business and assets. Court records show that his estranged wife, Lori Anne Meier ultimately obtained control of the estate, according to court documents and decisions. In the terms of Gary’s will and statements from his family, some of the assets she inherited were intended for his adult daughter from his first marriage and his brother, who had worked alongside him for decades. Those differing interpretations deepened the family division.
“Still no Arrest: Who Killed Millionaire Auctioneer Gary Meier?” is more than a true crime account. It’s an investigative journey that pulls back the curtain on a community scarred by a murder, a flawed justice system, and the corrosive cost of silence. Drawing on exclusive interviews with Gary’s family, law enforcement, private investigators, and my own two decades of reporting, this book seeks to expose the failures and confront the difficult truths that have, until now, remained in the shadows.
It’s a story that began for me with a reporter’s notebook and a list of phone calls – to the police, to the widow, to the man who found the body. I didn’t know it then, but one of them had already started to watch me back.
NOTE: This book is the result of that rigorous investigation, with all reporting grounded in court documents, evidence, and sources. In breaking the long silence surrounding this murder, the author has faced a coordinated effort to discredit this work, including threats and attacks on her integrity. She stands firmly by the factual reporting within these pages.
The book on Gary Meier’s murder in Lacombe in 2001 is now available on Amazon. Here is the link.
