Suspect in two slayings previously warned by judge to ‘stay away from weapons’

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This article was published 05/04/2024 (559 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The man who Winnipeg homicide detectives named as their suspect in two unrelated slayings months apart was warned by a judge not to carry weapons just weeks before the first victim was shot dead.

The Winnipeg Police Service said Thursday that detectives obtained a second-degree murder warrant for Maxim Dale Garneau, 27, in the shooting death of Daniel Raymond Garvey-Rodriquez, 25, outside an apartment block at 285 College Ave. on Sept. 10 last year.

He remains at large and police have warned he could be dangerous.

Garneau was already subject to a second-degree murder arrest warrant in the March 18 slaying of Edgar Allan Bear, 56, at a home at 1246 Selkirk Ave.

Garneau was granted bail on unrelated charges on March 25, before police linked him to Bear’s homicide. He had been arrested on March 19 for the alleged weapons offences and court breaches, records show.

“For sure, you’ve got to stay away from weapons,” provincial court Judge Robin Finlayson told him on July 31.

Garneau was pleading guilty in provincial court to possessing a weapon dangerous to the public peace, carrying a concealed weapon, possessing unauthorized ammunition and three court-order breaches.

Crown prosecutor Kevin Clayton told court Garneau was riding a bicycle on Logan Avenue toward McPhillips Street just before 2 a.m. on Nov. 23, 2022, when police, who were on the lookout for someone trying to open door handles on parked cars in the area, pulled him over.

They arrested him after discovering he was wanted on several warrants for failing to comply with court orders. While they were cuffing Garneau, court heard, a machete in a sheath fell out of his jacket. The constables also found a sawed-off air rifle and a single round of ammunition in his backpack.

He was jailed for 100 days before being granted bail. The Crown and his defence lawyer, Jill Duncan, agreed he should be sentenced to time served.

Duncan said last July that Garneau had been doing well while out on bail, having developed a good relationship with his case worker from Walking Stick, a community support program for people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and other challenges, and that he was going to begin work with a street cleanup team and begin receiving employment and income assistance.

Garneau’s lawyer did not delve into his background at the sentencing hearing, though Garneau told the judge he had been doing well and hoped to attain his Grade 12 education.

Garneau told Finlayson he had some unspecified addictions issues, but he had been managing them well, and had just obtained a puppy that had been the focus of his attention.

It is unclear, based on court records, whether he has been diagnosed with FASD or another disorder.

Garneau was and remains subject to a 10-year court order banning him from possessing weapons stemming from a 2021 conviction for assault with a weapon committed on Christmas Day 2019. He was jailed for 474 days.

Police have asked anyone with information about Garneau’s whereabouts to call homicide detectives at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca