Admitted killer convicted of murder in fatal stabbing

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This article was published 21/02/2023 (1006 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg man who fatally stabbed a stranger he came upon attacking a woman on a North End street has been convicted of second-degree murder.

Tre Pelletier-Monkman, 26, will be sentenced at a later date.

Jurors began deliberations early Tuesday afternoon and reached a verdict shortly after 9 p.m.

Pelletier-Monkman admitted stabbing Adam Laforrest to death June 16, 2021, but argued it was in defence of a woman he believed was at risk of dying at Laforrest’s hands.

Carla Duck, the woman Laforrest attacked, was in need of a “hero” and Pelletier-Monkman was in the right place at the right time, defence lawyer Mike Cook argued in a closing address to jurors Tuesday morning.

“It’s really a miracle that Tre Pelletier-Monkman happened to be driving by at that particular time,” defence lawyer Mike Cook told jurors in a closing argument. “Tre Pelletier-Monkman saved Carla Duck’s life… Carla Duck needed a hero right then and right there.”

Crown prosecutor Mark Kantor told jurors Pelletier-Monkman had several non-lethal options open to him, including calling police, or pushing Laforrest off Duck; instead he ran at Laforrest with knife already in hand, ready to attack.

Pelletier-Monkman stabbed Laforrest four times, including a fatal strike to his chest, next to his heart.

“You don’t need a university degree to know that stabbing someone with a knife… is going to cause injuries that could result in death,” Kantor said.

Under the Criminal Code, Laforrest’s killing can be deemed justified if jurors are satisfied Pelletier-Monkman was acting in defence of another person and that his actions were reasonable in the circumstances.

Jurors began deliberations early Tuesday afternoon. It is open to jurors to find Pelletier-Monkman not guilty of second-degree murder, but guilty of manslaughter.

Duck testified last week she was sitting on the sidewalk on Dufferin Avenue near Main Street, sharing a beer with a friend around noon, June 16, 2021, when she saw Laforrest in the middle of the road yelling and stopping traffic.

Duck said she and her friend had been laughing and Laforrest, believing they had been laughing at him, walked toward them and threw a partial can of Snapple at her face. The man threw the can at her face a second time at close range before “drop-kicking” her in the chest and punching her repeatedly in the head and upper body.

“I thought I was going to die,” she said. “He was really trying to hurt me.”

Duck said she was covering her face with her hands to block the man’s blows when he suddenly stopped, walked a few metres away and sat on the sidewalk.

“I was so angry I kicked at him with my left foot on his cheek,” Duck said. “That’s when I noticed that there was blood starting to come out of his chest.”

Pelletier-Monkman testified he was with his brother in a van being driven by their grandmother on their way to a pawn shop when he saw Laforrest walking in the middle of Dufferin Avenue. Pelletier-Monkman said he rolled down his window and told Laforrest to get off the road.

Pelletier-Monkman said he saw Laforrest throw a can of Snapple two times at Duck’s face before “viciously” attacking her.

“He started fighting like crazy, going all out,” as several witnesses watched and did nothing, Pelletier-Monkman said.

Pelletier-Monkman ran toward Laforrest, his knife already in his hand, and “started using it on him,” he testified.

Pelletier-Monkman said he stabbed Laforrest four or five times as he continued to attack Duck. Laforrest showed no sign of being injured, prompting Pelletier-Monkman to halt his own attack and return to his vehicle.

“I felt overpowered and felt like he didn’t feel anything, so like there was no point, because even if I continued, that’s like trying to kill someone,” he said.

Pelletier-Monkman reacted quickly to a “life or death situation” and was “trying to do the right thing,” Cook said Tuesday.

“Tre obviously made a mistake, someone’s life was taken that day, but (his actions were) reasonable” in the circumstances, Cook said, adding Laforrest had a lengthy criminal record for violence and had alcohol and cocaine in his system at the time of the attack.

“Laforrest was 100 per cent the aggressor that day,” he said.

Pelletier-Monkman claimed to be concerned about Duck’s safety, but then ran off while she was still being attacked and didn’t even call police, Kantor said.

“A woman’s life is in danger here,” Kantor said. “It doesn’t make sense. Tre Pelletier-Monkman is not credible.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca