Father of six killed in case of mistaken identity, court told By: Dean Pritchard Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, Apr. 17, 2023 Last Modified: 6:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Apr. 18, 2023 Updates

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The shotgun killing of a Winnipeg father of six riding his bicycle on a North End street was a case of mistaken identity, a court has heard.

Anthony Sinclair, 35, was fatally shot just minutes after leaving home to pick up something at a corner store the evening of Dec. 9, 2021.

Alex Arumeul Genaille, 25, and 23-year-old Thunder Lightning Fontaine, who had never met Sinclair prior to the shooting, were set to stand trial for second-degree murder in November but entered pleas in a Winnipeg courtroom Monday to the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Genaille and Fontaine were armed with a loaded shotgun and rifle and walking with friends when they crossed paths with Sinclair riding his bike on Stella Avenue near McGregor Street shortly after 7 p.m., Crown attorney Brent Davidson told King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond, reading from an agreed statement of facts.

“Genaille misidentified Sinclair as a male… that both Genaille and Sinclair were upset with based upon behaviour he had exhibited toward Genaille’s girlfriend,” Davidson said.

Genaille pulled out a rifle and shot Sinclair once in the back. After Sinclair fell to the ground, Fontaine pulled out his shotgun and fired one shot into the defenceless man’s abdomen.

Genaille and Fontaine walked away from the dying man and 45 minutes later, made their way to Mountain Avenue where they carjacked a man and his teenage son of their pickup truck in the parking lot of a Safeway supermarket.

Court heard the adult victim had just exited his vehicle when Fontaine advanced on him with the shotgun, repeatedly demanding money. Genaille got into the driver’s seat and forced the man’s 14-year-old son out of the vehicle at gunpoint before driving away with Fontaine.

Genaille and Fontaine each pleaded guilty Monday to robbery with a weapon.

“Genaille misidentified Sinclair as a male… that both Genaille and Sinclair were upset with based upon behaviour he had exhibited toward Genaille’s girlfriend.”–Crown attorney Brent Davidson

Genaille and Fontaine will return to court Tuesday when Crown and defence lawyers will jointly recommend Bond sentence each of them to 20 years in prison.

Sinclair’s killing is the second homicide for which Fontaine is facing prosecution. Last month, Fontaine stood trial in the killing of 40-year-old Angus John Maple.

Maple died after he was shot in a Mountain Avenue apartment on Nov. 24, 2021, just two weeks before Sinclair’s killing. Bond, the same judge who will sentence Fontaine and Genaille on Tuesday, will rule next week whether Fontaine is guilty of second-degree murder or manslaughter in Maple’s death.

At the time of Sinclair’s killing, both Genaille and Fontaine were bound by court orders prohibiting them from possessing weapons.

According to court records previously reviewed by the Free Press, both Genaille and Fontaine have been identified as low functioning, with troubled backgrounds and a history of addictions and methamphetamine use.

Fontaine was convicted in March 2020 of possession of illegal homemade “zip guns” and ammunition and sentenced to 23 months in jail.

In early 2019, Genaille was sentenced to 15 months in jail after admitting to slashing a dog’s face through a fence in the yard of a North End home. Genaille claimed to have been drunk and said the attack was random. The sentencing judge rejected a 30-month prison term recommended by the Crown, calling it “excessive.”

In April 2020, shortly after he was released from jail, Genaille stole a car that had been left running and, after getting into a collision, forced his way into a house where he assaulted a male resident with a kitchen pot before police arrived and arrested him. In March 2021 he was sentenced to one year in jail in addition to the time he had already served.

Court heard at the time Genaille has been diagnosed with fetal spectrum disorder and possible schizophrenia.

“He doesn’t manage to spend much time in the community before he comes back into custody,” Crown attorney Nick Saunders told court at the time.

“There are some negative influences in the community that I think plays a part, I think his diagnosis plays a big part, and his addiction plays a huge part,” Saunders said.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca