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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Snowbank death gets man 54 months behind bars

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 11/27/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Bozynski (JOHN WOODS)

A Winnipeg man has been sentenced to 41/2 years in prison for leaving a beating victim to freeze to death in a snowbank.

James Morrisseau, 28, pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this year for the January 2011 death of 48-year-old Zenon Bozynski. He returned to court Monday to learn his fate.

The Crown sought a six-year sentence for Morrisseau, while his lawyer asked for three years in custody. Queen's Bench Justice Chris Martin met them both in the middle.

Crown attorney Deann Sahulka told court Bozynski was drunk and unable to find his keys for his apartment so he knocked on the door of a nearby Redwood Avenue rooming house after 3 a.m.

The resident, a young woman, became frightened and called police to say she believed someone was trying to break in. She also texted her brother, Morrisseau, who arrived on scene. Morrisseau admits assaulting Bozynski and leaving him in a snowbank in the -32 C weather with no jacket.

Police never responded to the woman's original call. Police told the Free Press the woman called back an hour later, cancelling her request. Police were dispatched at 9 a.m. -- but only because a resident found Bozynski's body, court was told. He died of hypothermia.

Morrisseau was originally charged with second-degree murder, but the Crown agreed to a plea bargain. Morrisseau was to be sentenced last week, but the matter was delayed after he was arrested for a violent attack on his girlfriend. That case remains before the courts.

www.mikeoncrime.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 27, 2012 A7

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