Two men charged with killing 41-year-old man

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This article was published 17/05/2023 (1106 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police have arrested two men in the slaying of a 41-year-old father in Point Douglas this month.

Kevin James Wescoupe died in hospital after being stabbed by two men at about 1:15 a.m. May 2.

He and a friend were attacked by two strangers behind a home on the 100 block of Austin Street North.

The other victim stabilized after medical treatment.

Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said although the victims and alleged killers were strangers, investigators don’t consider the attack random.

“A confrontation culminated between the two groups, leading to the stabbings,” said McKinnon said.

Donna Koss, 61, who lives on Austin Street North, knew Wescoupe, who used to live across the street with his common-law partner.

Koss told the Free Press earlier that Wescoupe, his partner and newborn child were visiting the Austin Street North home, which was being watched by his mother-in-law while the owner was out of town.

Wescoupe — who she described as a “teddy bear” — and the other victim had just returned from the nearby Northern Hotel bar when a car pulled up behind the house, Koss said at the time. The two men were attacked and the other men drove off, the neighbour said.

McKinnon said she could not reveal more information about the dispute.

On Monday, homicide detectives arrested two suspects; one on the 600 block of St. Anne’s Road and the other at a home on the 200 block of Machray Avenue.

Taylor Brandon Lee Flett, 24, is charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder. Kevin Cook McKay, 23, is charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault. Both remain in custody.

McKay has never been convicted of a crime in Manitoba, court records show. He was due in bail court on Wednesday.

Meantime, Flett’s record is light.

Monday morning — the same day he was picked up by homicide detectives — Flett pleaded down a charge of driving while prohibited from a criminal offence to a traffic ticket, court records show.

The brief hearing in front of provincial court Judge Brent Stewart revealed Flett is subject to a lifetime driving ban, but the reason for it was not made clear.

Court heard he had been sitting in the driver’s seat of a rented, parked vehicle in the lot of the Balmoral Hotel in November 2022 when Winnipeg police officers conducted a traffic stop and found he was subject to the lifetime driving suspension.

The person who had legally rented the vehicle was in the backseat and Flett told his lawyer he did not plan to drive the vehicle, he was simply sitting in the seat as the vehicle warmed up.

On Monday, he pleaded to the Highway Traffic Act offence. The judge gave him a $150 fine and three months to pay it.

Court heard Flett is originally from Peguis First Nation and has two children.

He’s due in court on the murder and attempted murder charge on May 26.

erik.pindera@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @erik_pindera