News briefs for Friday, April 7, 2023

Investigation into fatal assault spree ends with four arrests

9:58 AM

Winnipeg police have arrested four suspects in relation to a spate of assaults in Point Douglas that left three people dead last summer.

The suspects and victims did not know each other, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a release Friday.

On August 22, 2022, Danielle Ballantyne, 36, Marvin Felix, 54, and Troy Baguley, 51, were seriously assaulted. Ballantyne was found dead inside a Jarvis Avenue apartment, while Felix died of his injuries days later.

Baguley, who suffered life-altering damage in the attack, never recovered from his injuries and died March 3, 2023.

On March 21, investigators arrested 21-year-old Tristan Colten Moose at Headingley Correctional Centre, charging him with second-degree murder in relation to Baguley, police said.

Officers have also arrested three youths, ages 14-, 15-, and 16-years-old.

The elder teens were arrested shortly after the assault and held at the Manitoba Youth Centre, while the younger teen was arrested at his home April 5.

Police have finished their investigation and all four suspects remain in custody, police said.

Firefighters battle three blazes Friday morning

2:13 PM

Winnipeg firefighters responded to three fires in the span of a few hours Friday morning.

An apartment in the Sage Creek neighborhood caught fire shortly after 8 a.m., with firefighters responding to the 100 block of Des Hivernants Boulevard North.

The blaze was under control in less than twenty minutes. No people were injured, but a dog required medical attention, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said.

Investigators are looking into the cause of the blaze and no damage estimates are available.

Minutes later, firefighters elsewhere in the city responded to a fire within a vacant home in the 400 block of Ross Avenue.

Around 8:30 a.m., crews arrived to find smoke billowing from the home. Firefighters doused the flames from above using aerial ladders.

The building, which was the site of another fire March 26, was deemed unstable, so the WFPS ordered an emergency demolition.

The WFPS did not say if anybody was injured, and the cause of the latest blaze is under investigation.

A two-storey home in the 100 block of Hart Avenue burned around 10:30 a.m. It was under control within an hour with no injuries reported.

Investigators believe the fire started in the chimney, WFPS said.