Woman pleads not guilty as murder trial begins for 2016 stabbing

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This article was published 25/09/2018 (2889 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg woman accused of killing a man in the presence of her four-year-old son has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

The jury that will decide Bernadette Neepin’s case heard the first pieces of evidence against her Tuesday, learning police found Neepin with the young boy in her arms, next to a pool of blood on the couch in her Transcona home.

Frederick Bird, 45, was stabbed four times in the chest and died of his injuries, despite emergency responders’ efforts.

“This case is very straightforward, and very disturbing,” Crown attorney Melissa Serbin said in her opening statement to jurors Tuesday, warning them they will have to look at graphic crime-scene photos over the course of the scheduled three-week murder trial.

Winnipeg Police Service Const. Jesse Millar was one of the first to arrive on scene at 10:49 p.m. March 8, 2016, five minutes after police got a call that someone had been stabbed in a two-storey side-by-side on Allenby Crescent.

He testified an Indigenous man answered the door, gestured to Neepin and said: “She’s over there. He’s dead. I covered him up.”

Bird’s body was covered with blankets and pillows on the living room floor. Neepin was sitting with her son on the couch, Millar testified, saying the boy was screaming and crying, clothed only in underwear, and had blood on his face and chest. Neepin was also upset.

During cross-examination, Millar agreed Neepin seemed hysterical, but he said she alternated between crying and appearing calm.

Millar said he didn’t have time to talk to Neepin before turning his attention to the victim. He seized a bloody knife that was near Bird’s head, and started chest compressions to try to revive him before firefighters arrived.

“I don’t recall anyone asking what happened here,” he said in response to questions from defence lawyer Greg Brodsky. “My sole focus was saving that person’s life.”

The blood on the knife handle — an IKEA brand kitchen knife with a 15-centimetre blade — contained a mix of male and female DNA, WPS identification officer Susan Roy-Haegeman later testified. Police also found blood in bathwater in the home’s bathroom. A pair of children’s underwear next to the tub also had blood on them.

Neepin was arrested and taken to hospital for cuts on her hand, jurors heard.

The jury also reviewed police photos of the residence and heard Tuesday from other officers involved in the investigation and collection of evidence.

The trial is set to continue until Oct. 10.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay