Judge sends man to prison for 13 years in unprovoked near-fatal stabbing on city bus

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This article was published 06/02/2023 (945 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg man responsible for an unprovoked knife attack that nearly claimed the life of a 70-year-old woman as she rode a city bus home following an afternoon of shopping has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Peter Radulescu, 45, pleaded guilty to attempted murder for the Sept. 12, 2021 attack.

Radulescu maintained a sombre expression during sentencing submissions Monday morning and offered no explanation for his actions when King’s Bench Justice Jeffrey Harris gave him an opportunity to address court.

“It is quite obvious that you need intense treatment and I hope that the prison system can provide that to you and you take advantage of whatever is offered you,” Harris told Radulescu. “What you did is horrible and hopefully by the time you are released you won’t be a danger to society.”

Winnipeg Transit security video showed several passengers screaming and rushing to the exit as Radulescu attacked the woman.

Court heard the victim, who had just recently retired after working 40 years in the beauty industry, was rushed to hospital in critical condition where she “hovered between life and death” as doctors operated on her.

“I can’t imagine the feelings of loss of security… as she was simply doing what people do every day — riding a transit bus in Winnipeg,” Harris said.

“All of the passengers who witnessed this attack were, in their own ways, victimized. Citizens should feel safe when they go about doing their day- to-day activities. Acts like this shatter that sense of security.”

Transit workers are facing increasing violence on their buses every day, said Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 vice president Derek Hanley in a community impact statement provided to court.

“When one of us suffers from a traumatic event, we all suffer from it,” Hanley said. “Violence on Winnipeg Transit affects us all. It needs to stop now.”

Court heard Radulescu boarded a westbound Winnipeg Transit bus at Portage Avenue and Berry Street at approximately 2:15 p.m. and was still riding it 45 minutes later when the victim got on the bus at Polo Park.

The victim “was a very active and busy retiree, she had been out and about going to Polo Park on the bus to do a bit of shopping and have some lunch, and then she headed back to downtown, getting back on the bus to continue her day,” Crown attorney Nicole Roch told court.

The woman took an aisle seat in front of Radulescu, near the rear exit.

Thirteen minutes later, the bus was pulling away from the stop at Portage Avenue and Fort Street when Radulescu, “with no warning and no provocation… pulled out a knife, raised it high into the air and plunged it directly into the side of (the victim’s) neck with lethal force,” Roch said.

Radulescu stabbed the woman several more times in the neck and upper back before she turned around and stood up to look at him, Roch said.

Radulescu “immediately and without hesitation drove the knife into the left side of her neck,” she said. The woman “described that feeling as Mr. Radulescu pushing the knife as deeply into her neck as he possibly could. She described that moment as the moment she realized he was trying to kill her.”

The woman grabbed Radulescu’s arm, causing him to drop the knife, as she screamed at him to stop and pleaded with him to get off the bus, Roch said.

Radulescu yanked his hand away from the woman and exited the bus by the rear door. Radulescu “did not say a word throughout this entire interaction,” Roch said.

The woman staggered to the front of the bus for help before collapsing on a seat.

Police officers who happened to be nearby provided first aid to the woman until paramedics arrived and she was taken to Health Sciences Centre.

Police found a large folding knife discarded outside the bus that was later confirmed to contain DNA matching both Radulescu and the victim.

The woman suffered a punctured esophagus and lung and massive internal bleeding. She no longer has full use of her left arm and her vocal chords are permanently damaged.

Following the attack, police issued a “be on the lookout” notice for a suspect pictured in the bus security video. Radulescu was arrested a day later after an off-duty police officer stopped at a red light on Portage Avenue saw him walk in front of his car.

In a police interview, Radulescu agreed bus security video accurately depicted him stabbing the victim, but claimed to have no memory of the attack.

In a subsequent police interview just last month, Radulescu told investigators questioning him about an unrelated incident it was his intention to kill the victims in both cases.

”I wanted to kill this guy just like that (woman) on the bus… I wanted to kill her,” he said.

Court records show Radulescu has been charged only in the bus attack.

Radulescu claimed he had been using pills and alcohol at the time of the attack, but there is no other evidence to suggest he was intoxicated, Roch said.

Two of three forensic reports prepared for court said Radulescu made “misleading comments” and showed signs of “malingering,” making it impossible to believe anything he says, Roch said.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Radulescu did not provide any kind of clarity in these reports, he only muddied the waters,” Roch said. “We have no insight into why this happened.”

Defence lawyer Zilla Jones said evidence of Radulescu’s calm demeanour during the attack suggested a mental illness of some kind.

Jones said Radulescu always carried a knife with him and had no plans to attack anyone. She said Radulescu told her he was triggered by the victim’s resemblance to his stepmother.

“That’s the explanation he has given me,” she said. “I don’t have another one.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca