Two additional arrests in Norway House teen slaying

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This article was published 06/12/2023 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RCMP have arrested two more suspects in the slaying of a 15-year-old boy in northern Manitoba.

Officers were called to a stabbing at a home in Norway House Cree Nation, about 450 kilometres north of Winnipeg, at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

RCMP spokeswoman Tara Seel said the homicide occurred during a gathering at the home.

The victim — identified by family as Faron Wilson — was taken to the local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His father declined to comment Wednesday.

Reg Klassen, chief superintendent of Frontier School Division, said mental wellness workers were at the community’s school to help students who need support.

“We know that the families are in agony and hurting,” said Klassen. “We reach out with our condolences and know that this is a difficult time for them… as we navigate a tragedy that should never have happened.”

Educators have been trying to reconnect with students who were out of school during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not returned.

“That’s a real challenge for us,” said Klassen.

Wilson attended school at the Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre for one day this school year and did not return, the chief superintendent said.

A 14-year-old suspect arrested Sunday was not a registered student, according to Klassen.

Frontier is struggling to recruit staff to remote communities, he noted.

“I know that in our northern communities we have, since the pandemic, seen an influx… of drugs and an influx of gang activity,” said Klassen.

“We know that if our students, children in our communities attend school regularly they are much less likely to get involved in those kinds of enterprises that would led them to altercations or conflict.”

RCMP said Cody Jeffrey Monias, 38, and a 14-year-old boy were charged with second-degree murder Sunday.

Investigators have since charged Dale Martin Chubb, 42, and Dakota Dennis Walker, with second-degree murder.

All four suspects were held in custody.

Monias was sentenced a year ago for his role in a brutal group attack on a woman at a house party in Norway House (traditionally known as Kinosao Sipi) in August 2021. He pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm.

Partygoers were using crack and powder cocaine before the woman was beaten by multiple people, bound with duct tape and attacked further, Thompson’s Court of King’s Bench heard.

The victim’s clothes were removed and she was put in a shower. She suffered significant injuries to her face and head in an attack Justice Rick Saull described as “horrific.”

Monias was sentenced to time served in pre-trial custody, amounting to 661 days with an enhanced credit of 1.5 days for every day of pre-sentence custody.

He was given a year of unsupervised probation, ordered to submit a DNA sample for a national database and banned from possessing guns for life.

Four co-accused were given similar sentences, the court heard.