Helen Betty Osborne’s brother slain

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This article was published 27/03/2008 (6699 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A family whose lives have been marred by tragedy lost another member early Wednesday morning.

Kelvin John Osborne, 42, the brother of Helen Betty Osborne, was rushed to hospital in critical condition after he was assaulted in a ground-floor suite at 661 Broadway at about 1:30 a.m.

He later died in hospital, becoming Winnipeg’s sixth homicide victim of 2008.

Winnipeg police said today Morris McConnell ,56, has been charged with second degree murder in connection with the death. He is in custody at the Winnipeg Remand Centre.

Osborne’s sister, Helen Betty Osborne, was 19 years old when she was killed in The Pas in 1971. The aboriginal teen from Norway House was abducted, sexually assaulted, beaten and stabbed over 50 times.

It took 15 years before charges were laid against three men. Dwayne Archie Johnston was convicted of second-degree murder in 1987. He was granted full parole after serving 10 years of a life sentence.

In 2000, the province issued a formal apology over the failure of the justice system to act — her death also helped spark the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry.

“The family has endured so much,” said Sandra DeLaronde, administrator of the Helen Betty Osborne Memorial Foundation, adding the family is still mourning the death of another family member just a month ago.

DeLaronde said she knew Osborne through her work at the foundation — she described him as a sensitive man full of vitality. She said he was still recovering from an incident a few years ago when he was beaten severely, forcing him to redevelop many of his motor skills.

Very little is known of the circumstances surrounding Calvin Osborne’s death at the Howell Court apartments at 661 Broadway.

Sources said the accused may suffer from schizophrenia and depression.

Police spokesman Kelly Dennison said he couldn’t comment on how Osborne and his alleged assailant knew each other.

“Obviously, they’re not strangers, but other than that, I don’t have anything further,” he said.

A weapon was recovered at the scene, but police wouldn’t say what it was.

The homicide investigation continues.

Resident David Koroluk, 49, said tenants of Howell Court, a ragged, two-storey building of 10 apartments, were “living on borrowed time” before something serious happened.

Koroluk said the west area of the block, near a side entrance onto Furby Street, is a consistent source of problems in the building.

“Year after year, if there’s trouble… it’s in that wing,” said the resident of the apartment block, who has lived there for six years.

“There’s no point in getting to know anybody because they’re only there a month,” he said.

Koroluk said the incident must have happened quietly, because he didn’t hear anything but “a couple of thumps” at the time the incident occurred.

The building’s caretaker, Doug Moore, said the suite where Osborne was found by police has no one living either above or beside it, and that he hasn’t had any contact with the person living there in some time.

james.turner@freepress.mb.ca