MPI sues accused killer over torched vehicle

MANITOBA Public Insurance is suing a man awaiting trial in the slayings of five people — including his three young children — accusing him of torching a vehicle on the side of the highway on the day their bodies were found.

MPI is seeking $43,000 in damages for the Feb. 11, 2024 incident in which it claims Ryan Howard Manoakeesick, 31, “purposely and intentionally” set fire to a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

“The plaintiff states that the damages to (the) Jeep were caused solely by the fault and wilful misconduct of the defendant,” reads the lawsuit, filed July 16 in the Court of King’s Bench.

“The defendant has refused or neglected to pay the amount owing to date, or any portion thereof, despite the plaintiff’s demands.”

Manoakeesick has remained in custody since the day of the fire on Provincial Road 248, near St. Eustache, at about 10 a.m.

Police who attended the scene found Manoakeesick’s three children — two-month old Isabella, four-year-old Jayven and six-year-old Bethany — dead outside the burning vehicle.

Police arrested him without incident nearby.

Earlier in the day, RCMP officers found Manoakeesick’s common-law partner and the mother to his children, Amanda Clearwater, 30, dead in a ditch on Highway 3 near Carman. Investigators later found Clearwater’s 17-year-old niece, Myah-Lee Gratton, dead inside a Carman home where all of the victims lived with Manoakeesick.

He has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder, meaning the Crown believes the killings were planned and deliberate. It is one of the biggest homicide cases in Manitoba in more than a decade.

Manoakeesick has a history of drug and mental-health struggles, court records show.

In March 2024, a judge ruled Manoakeesick was fit to stand trial after his lawyers requested he undergo an psychiatric assessment.

His next court appearances are scheduled to take place between Sept. 8 and 12 in the Court of King’s Bench. Several other hearings are scheduled in February, March and April of next year, court records show.

Manoakeesick has not entered a statement of defence in the MPI case.

MPI estimated the cost of the Jeep at around $40,200 and the cost of fire crews to respond to the scene at around $2,000. An additional $800 was spent to cover the cost of a rental vehicle for the Jeep’s registered owner, who is not named in the lawsuit.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca