Convicted sex offender charged after student attacked in University of Manitoba housing

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This article was published 26/10/2024 (345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The man accused of a brutal attack on a woman sleeping in a student housing complex at the University of Manitoba is a convicted sex offender.

Garry Junior Edwards, 46, has been charged with sexual assault, robbery and overcoming resistance by attempting to choke, and four break-and-enter offences. He’s still in custody, the Winnipeg Police Service said Saturday.

Police were sent to an establishment on Pembina Highway at about 11 p.m. Friday after someone recognized a man milling about outside as matching the suspect description provided by police earlier that day. Patrol officers arrested him on the 1800 block of Pembina Highway and handed him over to sex crimes investigators.

The attack happened at the Arthur V. Mauro Residence at 120 Dafoe Rd. at around 4:45 a.m. Friday.

The intruder entered the building, broke into a secured area and then into the woman’s room, where he assaulted her physically. She managed to fight him off and call for help.

Campus security was alerted, and the suspect fled before police arrived. The woman was treated in hospital for her injuries, and police released images of the man taken from security video.

Speaking by phone Saturday, WPS spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon commended the bravery of the victim, calling the attack “horrible.”

She also put out a video statement on social media Saturday, thanking the public, media and the university for helping in the probe.

The Free Press has confirmed the suspect is a registered sex offender with a history of violence, referred to as Garry Edwards Jr. in public notifications regarding his release from Stony Mountain prison this May and in November 2023.

The May notification from the Manitoba high-risk sex offender unit, a joint force of city police and RCMP, indicates Edwards is known to use several aliases. He was let out after serving a sentence for being unlawfully at large. The sex offender unit described Edwards as a high risk to offend against all women and girls.

He was released in November after serving a 12-year sentence for two counts each of sex assault with a weapon and armed robbery, as well as flight from police, dangerous driving and theft over $5,000. He was convicted of those crimes in 2013.

Edwards, who was addicted to crack cocaine, randomly robbed and violently sexually assaulted two women at knifepoint in separate incidents downtown in April 2012.

In the first incident, he grabbed a then-21-year-old woman off the street near Cityplace mall at about 10 p.m. on April 12, threatening to stab her if she did not comply. He took her purse and dragged her to a secluded area, where he sexually assaulted her before she managed to break free and seek help.

Edwards fled and followed a then-27-year-old woman into a Donald Street apartment about a half hour later, where he robbed her in an elevator. He groped her during the robbery and dragged her to a stairwell, where he raped her.

He stole the woman’s vehicle and fled the scene, but police officers spotted him on Balmoral Street, leading to a high-speed chase in which he smashed into parked vehicles, hit a police car and took a run at officers, court heard at his 2013 sentencing.

He lost control of the vehicle and ran off, but a police dog tracked him down.

Edwards has had a nearly lifelong addiction to crack cocaine and set about robbing the women for drug money, court heard in 2013.

He already had a lengthy criminal history and had failed past court-ordered efforts meant to help him get a grip on his substance-abuse problem.

Police have not revealed how the intruder managed to bypass security measures within the U of M student residence. The Mauro building is six storeys and can house up to 316 students in 155 suites, the university’s website says.

McKinnon said Friday such attacks are uncommon at the university and investigators were working closely with the school’s administration and security services.

News of the attack sparked concern among students and the student union about safety and violence on campus.

The U of M said in an email to the campus community Friday that it was increasing security on campus for the immediate future.

“Please continue to take steps to ensure your personal safety, including locking doors and being mindful of access points,” the email said. “We recognize that incidents like this can be unsettling.”

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca