Longtime friends, until one murders the other

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This article was published 16/05/2024 (516 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He stabbed his friend in the neck over a petty dispute, killing him in mere minutes.

Now, Gilbert Woodhouse, 29, will have to serve at least 10 years in prison.

Woodhouse pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the March 2, 2023, slaying of Shane Moar, 34, in Court of King’s Bench Wednesday.

His lawyers, Ethan Pollock and Dan Wolson, and Crown prosecutor Dan Angus, jointly recommended he be sentenced to life without being able to apply for parole for 10 years, which is the minimum sentence for second-degree murder.

Angus, reading from an agreed statement of facts, told court that Moar and Woodhouse had been at a convenience store in Gypsumville that afternoon. They left separately after getting into an argument. Woodhouse then used cocaine, court was told.

In nearby Lake St. Martin First Nation later that day, RCMP were called to a home where they found Moar lying in blood with a stab wound that had pierced his jugular vein.

Moar died despite efforts by people in the home to keep him alive. Mounties also tried to resuscitate him.

The homeowner who called 911, told RCMP that Woodhouse was visiting when Moar arrived and began swearing and joking around. Woodhouse got angry. The homeowner thought he was just punching Moar, until he saw blood. He grabbed a towel and called 911 as Moar shouted for an ambulance. Woodhouse ran through the patio door to a neighbouring house.

Angus told court that Woodhouse told the occupants of that home that he had stabbed Moar in the neck. He hid the knife in a bag of frozen vegetables in the freezer.

Woodhouse was smiling as he said the stabbing was “related to money or because Shane was starting issues with him.” He got upset once he heard his friend had died.

RCMP seized the knife and arrested Woodhouse.

“This particular case, obviously, is senseless violence. It would appear Mr. Woodhouse and Mr. Moar were… at one point at least, longtime friends,” said Angus, noting drugs and alcohol were factors in the killing.

Bobbi-Jo Moar, a sister of the victim, drove to Winnipeg from Gypsumville Wednesday to tell court about the effect of the crime on his family.

“Shane’s passing has left an irreplaceable hole in our lives and in my heart … I wish this act of violence never occurred,” she said, adding that her brother loved tinkering with engines, had musical talent and a passion for the outdoors.

Pollock said Woodhouse, who was born in Pinaymootang First Nation and moved to nearby Lake St. Martin, has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a low IQ and no high school diploma.

He was raised by his grandparents, who were residential school survivors, and faced alcoholism and abuse at home, as well as a sexual assault as a child, Pollock said. After his grandparents died, he moved to Winnipeg, where he became transient and involved in a gang. He abused drugs and alcohol.

“I think the hallmarks of Gladue exist,” said Pollock of Woodhouse’s case, referring to a pre-sentence report that can be requested to examine the systemic and background factors of an Indigenous person’s criminal record. Pollock waived the formal preparation of a report.

Angus said RCMP, who had a court order, had found Facebook messages sent by Woodhouse to an unnamed person hours before the killing; they said he would “staff” Woodhouse, who had been trying to “act up.”

In April 2023, Woodhouse was recorded on jailhouse phone calls saying that if the homeowner who called 911 didn’t testify, he would beat the murder rap. However, the 911 caller had made statements to police, which would have been admissible in court.

RCMP determined that during several phone calls, Woodhouse had told a man, believed to be his brother, to visit the witness and stop him from testifying. He discussed paying the man to do it.

The charge of obstruction of justice, which was laid in relation to the phone calls, was stayed Wednesday.

Justice Vic Toews, who accepted the sentence recommendation, told Woodhouse he would have given him a steeper sentence owing to his attempts to intimidate a witness, if not for the lawyers’ recommendation.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca