Accused in fatal fire has history of meth use, mental illness

A man charged with manslaughter and arson in relation to a fatal fire in West Broadway has a history of schizophrenia and methamphetamine abuse.

The blaze at 216 Young St., a two-and-a-half-storey multi-unit house, on Feb. 12, which claimed the life of 68-year-old Gregory George Thomas, was deliberately set, Winnipeg police said Monday.

Homicide detectives charged Michael Patrick Gordon, 40, with manslaughter and two counts of arson with a disregard for human life. He was detained in custody.

Police will not say whether the resident was targeted or whether the victim and the accused knew each other.

In May 2022, Gordon pleaded guilty to assaulting a peace officer at his mother’s downtown apartment in the summer of 2021, court records show.

Gordon’s mother had asked police to kick him out of her home because he was high on meth on Aug. 25, 2021, court was told.

He was asleep on the floor when two constables woke him up and he backhanded both of them in the face. He struck his head on a counter as the officers struggled with him as they took him into custody.

The Crown attorney and Gordon’s lawyer, Emilie Cook, jointly agreed he should be given a suspended sentence and a year of supervised probation.

While the terms of his probation order were being hashed out at the May 2022 sentencing hearing, Gordon told provincial court Judge Cynthia Devine that he had been recently diagnosed with schizophrenia and his newly prescribed medication had been helping.

The judge advised him to continue taking the medication and stay away from meth.

On July 6, 2022, he went to Winnipeg Police Service headquarters to hand over a DNA sample in relation to his conviction for assaulting the officers.

When an officer advised him he was wanted on a warrant for breaching his probation and would be arrested, Gordon threatened the officer, court heard in August 2022.

“Mr. Gordon’s response was ‘You’re dead,’” prosecutor Joel Myskiw told court at his sentencing hearing for uttering threats.

He was again given a suspended sentence and six months of probation on a joint recommendation.

At the August 2022 hearing, Gordon told court he had had a methamphetamine addiction and used to hear voices, but advised senior provincial court Judge Rob Finlayson he had been doing better.

In last week’s fatal fire, police responded to the Young Street home just after 6 p.m. while Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crews were on scene.

Several people were evacuated from the home; two people were taken to hospital. An injured firefighter was taken to hospital in stable condition, while Thomas was rushed to hospital in critical condition, where he died.

On Tuesday, a man connected to the multi-unit home, who asked not to be identified, described the incident as “unfortunate,” and said he only learned Tuesday morning, through media reports, that Thomas had died in an arson incident.

“It’s just sad,” he said.

The man, who said he did not live at the house, described the interior as completely “cooked.”

“You wouldn’t be able to tell it from the outside, but it’s bad,” he said.

Neighbours who spoke to the Free Press said they didn’t know the victim.

— with files from Scott Billeck

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca