Three more charged in pair of slayings

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This article was published 14/02/2023 (991 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three additional men are facing charges as police investigate a pair of recent homicides in Winnipeg’s core, bringing the total number of suspects to six.

All six are charged in the slaying of Carl George Wescoupe, while five are accused of involvement in the killing of Lee James Boulette, according to city police.

Detectives from the homicide unit believe the deaths are linked, but police have not disclosed a possible motive nor how the men were killed.

Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jay Murray said it is “relatively unusual” to have that many suspects in a homicide.

“It is perhaps even rare to see the number of first-degree murder charges laid — 10 in total,” he said Tuesday.

Wescoupe, 40, was found dead Jan. 29, inside a suite at the Manwin Hotel on Main Street, just north of Logan Avenue.

His body was discovered after a man in his 30s showed up at a city hospital with a serious injuries.

Officers found Boulette, 40, dead Feb. 1, inside an apartment on the 100 block of Selkirk Avenue, after a stabbing victim sought help at a hotel on the 800 block of Main Street.

Police, who do not believe the homicides were random, announced three additional arrests Tuesday.

Jordan Elvin McFadyen, 27, and Rory Shane Nash, 39, have each been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault for alleged involvement in both incidents.

A charge of first-degree murder is laid in killings that are allegedly planned and deliberate.

Single charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault have been laid against Eyan Douglas Ballantyne, 33, in the Manwin Hotel incident.

Nash has prior convictions for robbery and drug possession, while Ballantyne has a prior conviction for uttering threats, according to court records.

Police previously charged Kurtis Joseph Dilallo, 39, Robert Shawn Murdock, 31, and Ernest John Young, 54, with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

Court records show Dilallo, Murdock and Young have prior convictions for assault. Dilallo and Murdock have additional convictions for drug offences and uttering threats.

Murdock was convicted in 2021 and 2022 of carrying a concealed weapon. He was recently been released from jail after he was sentenced to 156 days in October for carrying crack cocaine and a loaded air pistol at a hotel on Higgins Avenue.

All six men, who are from Winnipeg, remain in custody.

At least five homicides have been investigated by city police so far in 2023.

— Staff