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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

High court lets deadly arson case proceed

Accused wasn't in home when it was torched

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 10/19/2012 1:00 AM

It is one of the more unique homicide cases in recent history. Now, Manitoba's highest court has rejected a bid to dismiss it, based on a lack of evidence.

Suzanne Eckstein, 46, is charged with arson, conspiracy and manslaughter -- despite the fact it was the victim who apparently caused his own death. She was arrested in 2008 and the case has slowly moved through the justice system.

Eckstein was ordered to stand trial following a preliminary hearing last year, but defence lawyer Martin Glazer filed a motion seeking to have that ruling overturned on the grounds there is no chance of conviction. Arguments for a directed verdict of not guilty were made last June, and the Court of Appeal issued its ruling Thursday. It upheld the original decision in which a judge found there was at least some evidence to move the case along.

No trial dates have been set and Eckstein remains free on bail.

"In my view there is no merit to the accused's argument," Justice Richard Chartier wrote in the 14-page decision.

"The reviewing judge correctly applied the appropriate standard of review."

Kenneth Dunn, 19, died from severe burns to nearly 100 per cent of his body following a June 2008 fire that gutted a home at 138 Lorne Ave. Eckstein and her fiancé -- who is Dunn's uncle -- were living in the home at the time.

In court documents obtained by the Free Press, police allege Eckstein and the victim conspired to burn down the house for insurance money.

Police believe Dunn, and possibly two other males, poured gasoline throughout all four floors of the home before igniting it, while Eckstein was not present.

The flames may have quickly spread to Dunn, badly burning him. Witnesses reported hearing an explosion and Dunn apparently jumped from a second-floor window, running from the house and leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind before collapsing on a nearby boulevard.

"I've never encountered a case like this before. It turns criminal law on its head," Glazer previously told the Free Press. "The poor guy died by his own hand. He set the fire."

Eckstein was stunned by her arrest and the allegations made against her, Glazer said.

"She wasn't even there when this happened," he said.

Glazer said his client had nothing to gain financially by torching the property, considering it was owned by her fiancé, George Dunn.

She also had no civil stake because she'd been living with him for less than a year, he said.

Glazer expects legal eyes from across Canada will watch the case closely when it gets to trial. In the Criminal Code, there are provisions that allow for a charge of "unlawful act" manslaughter in which a person dies unexpectedly during the course of committing another crime.

There are some comparisons to a high-profile case in the United States involving a robbery.

Two men looking for drugs burst into a home in 2007, only to be confronted by the gun-toting resident. One robber was shot dead, the other escaped.

Police charged the surviving robber with causing the death of his co-accused.

The homeowner was given a free pass on the grounds of self-defence.

www.mikeoncrime.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 19, 2012 A7