Ghosts of the past

Paranoid and high, man kills dad, takes photos of body, calls 911

Paranoid and sleep-deprived after a night of smoking crack, Donato Pellettieri stabbed his 64-year-old father 27 times, called 911 and waited outside their Maryland Avenue residence until police arrived minutes later and arrested him for murder, court was told Thursday.

“Paranoia led him to believe this was a kill-or-be-killed situation,” Crown attorney Joel Refvik told Court of King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne. “This is an individual who, but for his drug use and paranoia, likely would not have killed his father.”

The 39-year-old pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the July 2021 killing of Salvatore Pellettieri and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.

The resolution of his case was delayed by long periods in which he was mentally unfit to stand trial, and changed lawyers and awaited reports to determine whether he should be found not criminally responsible for his actions.

Artist’s inspired work brings Métis story back to Portage and Main

Jennine Krauchi calls them the “grandmothers.”

“They speak to you very silently. You never hear a word, but they speak,” Krauchi says, referring to the antique pieces of Métis needlework she’s carefully studied for years — a craft passed down across generations, with the pieces themselves sometimes serving as the instructive elders.

But there’s few precedents for her latest art project: a 85-foot-wide by 32-foot-high chain curtain of Métis needlework — teeming with wild flowers, infinity symbols, berries and other motifs paying tribute to Métis heritage and renewal — that drapes over the historic Bank of Montreal’s neoclassical facade.

That building, at 335 Main St., will soon bear another title: Red River Métis National Heritage Centre or La Plas Taanshi kaa-Ishipamachihoyaahk, its Michif name.

Grief haunts New Jersey teen in Perrotta’s coming-of-age novel

Light and lyrical but haunted by loss, this 11th book from New Jersey-born Tom Perrotta (Election, Little Children, The Leftovers) takes on the longstanding literary notion that you can’t go home again.

Perrotta’s narrator is Jay Perry (that’s his pen name). Once a self-described “serious” author — by way of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a promising debut novel and a Newsday review calling him “a writer to watch” — he switched over to penning a bestselling kids’ series (Ghost Teacher, Ghost Teacher Loves You and Ghost Teacher to the Rescue!) that became a hit TV show.

Now in his 60s, Jay has been strictly literal about not returning to Creamwood, N.J., the small, blue-collar, mostly Italian community where he grew up. When he receives an email from the town mayor inviting him to attend the opening of a new municipal building dedicated to his father, he starts to wonder whether the memories he’s denied all these years aren’t still there, right where he left them.

In his mind, Jay returns to the summer of 1974, when he was a 13-year-old kid still named Jimmy Perrini. As Jay relates Jimmy’s story, the past and the present move toward each other, slowly at first and then with sudden speed.

Theatre by the River’s latest production draws wisdom from Ovid

The seed of Sap — the production debuting tonight by Winnipeg indie company Theatre by the River — was planted during the reign of Augustus Caesar.

Published four years ago by British playwright Rafaella Marcus, Sap is a fable that shines light on the epic first-century poetry of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, intertwining the story of Daphne — who wills herself to be transformed into a tree when pursued by an overzealous suitor — as a modern reminder of the universal need for peer-led queer sanctuary amid an increasingly violent political landscape for members of the LGBTTQ+ community.

When director Elio Zarrillo encountered the poetic script, it seemed an obvious match for Theatre by the River, a roving company founded in 2006 to produce work that builds compassion and respect for underserved narrative.

After getting initial interest, Zarrillo — a Winnipeg-raised playwright and performer who’s been onstage in recent years at Winnipeg Jewish Theatre (Narrow Bridge) and Prairie Theatre Exchange (The Outside Inn) — chose an appropriate location for a readthrough with Theatre by the River’s production team.

Cancelling court erodes access to justice — just ask Matt Wiebe

Back in May 2023, when the NDP was in opposition and Matt Wiebe was just an earnest justice critic, he had harsh words for the Progressive Conservative government when provincial circuit court sessions were being cancelled.