Man’s appeal of 2nd-degree murder conviction dismissed

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This article was published 17/07/2025 (254 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s highest court has dismissed a man’s claim he acted in self defence when he beat his roommate to death with a piece of lumber.

Justin Monro was found guilty of second-degree murder in the May 2021 killing of 37-year-old Derek Sutton and sentenced in 2023 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 11 years.

Monro appealed, arguing Court of King’s Bench Justice Vic Toews erred when he rejected his claim he was provoked and acted in self-defence.

In a written decision last month, the Court of Appeal of Manitoba dismissed Monro’s appeal, ruling there were no grounds to reject Toews’ conclusion Munro continued to attack Sutton when he no longer posed a threat and knew the attack would likely end in Sutton’s death.

“I am not convinced that the reasons of the trial judge demonstrate that he failed to consider the cumulative effect of all the evidence,” Justice Diana Cameron wrote on behalf of the appeal court. “Based on those findings, the trial judge could reasonably conclude that the accused had the requisite intent for murder.”

Court heard evidence at trial that Monro and his girlfriend were at Sutton’s Beverley Street home, where Monro had been living for a time, when the two men got into an argument that quickly became physical. It ended with Monro striking Sutton in the face with a piece of dimensional lumber at least seven times.

Security video captured Monro walking down a back lane with his girlfriend and discarding the two-by-four behind a shed, where police later recovered it.

In a subsequent interview with police, Monro claimed Sutton had returned home to find his belongings trashed by an unidentified intruder and blamed Monro for not stopping him.

Sutton attacked him and, when the fight spilled outdoors, Sutton armed himself with a two-by-four and started swinging it, Monro said.

Monro said he disarmed Sutton, and hit him several times in the head with the piece of wood. Monro told police he had used drugs earlier in the day but was not high at the time of the attack.

Toews ruled that blood-trail evidence showed Monro had attacked Sutton with the two-by-four inside the house and that the attack continued as Monro, who was uninjured, chased Sutton out the front door. Toews rejected Monro’s claim he was provoked, pointing to his comments to police stating he was “totally… in control” during the attack.

A pathologist report revealed Sutton suffered injuries akin to those suffered in a high-speed motor vehicle accident.

Monro’s life spiralled out of control during the pandemic after he lost his job and fell into drug use, defence lawyer Andrew McKelvey-Gunsen said at a sentencing hearing.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca