Blood-soaked suspect arrested at Winnipeg bathhouse

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This article was published 21/12/2017 (3043 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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City police have charged a Winnipeg man with attempted murder after a violent attack Sunday turned Aquarius bathhouse into a bloodbath.

The suspect is alleged to have barricaded himself and another man in a room while high on methamphetamine, before starting a fire, choking and stabbing the man repeatedly, and then slitting his throat.

“The scene is described as extremely gruesome. There’s no other way to put it. You had a large quantity of blood. When you walk into a scene like that, you know, it’s traumatic — not just for officers but anyone else who has to deal with that scene,” Winnipeg Police Services Const. Tammy Skrabek said Thursday.

“It’s not uncommon for people to have flashbacks with stuff like this – even years later. These scenes, personally I can tell you with dozens of scenes I’ve been to, I can still picture them vividly. Those images don’t go away.”

Brian Joseph Steve Pensak, 32, has been charged with attempted murder, forcible confinement and arson with disregard for human life, among other offences.

Police said they were called to Aquarius Bath on the 400 block of Notre Dame Avenue around 6:30 a.m. Sunday, on a report of a man acting erratically and barricading himself and another man in a room.

Upon arrival, police said they discovered both men covered in blood.

Pensak was allegedly holding a knife, which he tossed away when ordered to do so, police said.

There had been no indication officers would be walking into such a gruesome scene, Skrabek said.

“This transpired very quickly. So when police first got the call, it didn’t indicate that he was violent, only that the male was… kind of out of control,” she said. “With a scene like this… officers are putting themselves in harm’s way.”

The victim, 38, was rushed to hospital in critical condition. His status has since been upgraded to stable.

Pensak was also taken to hospital in stable condition. He was released Wednesday and immediately taken into police custody.

Police said Pensak was high on meth when he arranged to meet the victim at the bathhouse via social media. The two were unknown to each other. After meeting at Aquarius, the two men consumed drugs together.

Pensak is alleged to have then barricaded the room, started a small fire and attacked the victim.

Aquarius staff were able to extinguish the fire through a broken window to the room.

The following day, police returned to the scene to execute a search warrant. Only the room where the attack took place was searched and a number of undisclosed items were seized, police said.

An Aquarius employee working the front desk Thursday claimed to not know of the attack.

Within a five-minute period, six customers entered the business. Outside, a man leaving the bathhouse was surprised to hear about the alleged attempted murder when approached by a reporter.

The owner of Aquarius Bath did not return a request for comment by the time of publication Thursday.

A former friend of Pensak’s, Scott Kennedy, said he was shocked when notified about the arrest.

“This just blows my mind… this is, honestly, just crazy,” he said.

“We were best friends for a long time, because we grew up together. If something ever came up he always there for me. There must have been a huge change in his life, or something must have gone very wrong.”

Kennedy said he last spoke with Pensak a few months ago, and he’d seemed happy and to be doing well.

This isn’t the first time Aquarius Bath has been connected to a violent crime. Two men visiting the bathhouse died in October 2009 after a fire was deliberately set in one of the business’s 42 rooms.

In addition to attempted murder, forcible confinement and arson with disregard for human life, Pensak has also been charged with mischief under $5,000, possession of a weapon and uttering threats. He remains in custody.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe