Senior’s death investigated as homicide

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/08/2022 (1501 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Neighbours of an elderly man whose death is being treated as a homicide by Winnipeg police are perplexed by the incident on their West End street.

Officers were sent to a home in the 700 block of Sherburn Street near Ellice Avenue at about 4:30 p.m. on Friday after being told the body of a man was inside.

No traces of a police investigation remained at the two-storey stucco-clad home Tuesday.

“Suspicious circumstances surround the incident,” the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Tuesday morning. “The death is being treated as a homicide.”

Homicide detectives identified the victim as James Monaghan, 74, of Winnipeg. No suspects have been arrested.

Police spokesman Const. Claude Chancy said Tuesday afternoon he could not reveal further details about the incident.

“There were some suspicious circumstances in relation to the body itself,” he said.

Andrea Venton, 45, has lived on Sherburn with her husband since 2012. She saw police investigating at the scene through the weekend.

“There was a forensics vehicle, and there was two cruisers, and a van around the corner… all of Saturday,” she said.

She said an elderly woman, who she believed was the mother of the victim, had previously owned the home.

“That’s always kind of been the dodgy house on the street, ever since we moved in,” Venton said. “We’ve always kept an eye out for that house.”

Venton said the victim moved in about four or five years ago after his mother died or moved. More recently, she often saw people show up at the house and sit on the porch with the victim.

Steve Taylor, 75, has owned his Sherburn home since 1977 and has lived there almost the entire time.

He said he saw a “fair amount of police” around 9 p.m. Friday.

“They were taking pictures. I was sitting on the step and I could see flashes in there,” Taylor said, pointing to the home where the victim’s body was found.

Taylor said he had wondered why he hadn’t seen the victim sitting on his porch all day, as he often did during the warm months. He said police remained at the scene until at least Sunday.

Abby Neufeld, 24, moved into her boyfriend’s Sherburn Street house last fall. She saw police investigators removing evidence bags from the home.

“He was always on his porch, the guy that lived there, but I hadn’t seen him for a couple days,” she said, adding she last saw the victim on July 25.

Monaghan’s death is the 30th homicide in Winnipeg this year. Last year, there were 25 homicides by this time.

Police are asking anyone with information about the case to call the homicide unit at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera