Manitoba man charged with first-degree murder in deaths of family members, including three children

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The Manitoba RCMP has charged a 29-year-old man with five counts of first-degree murder after the weekend killings of his common-law partner, their three children and the woman’s teenage niece in a rural community southwest of Winnipeg.

Inspector Tim Arseneault said Monday that the youngest victim was a 2½-month-old girl, who was found dead alongside her brother and sister near a burning vehicle the day before. Less than three hours before that, RCMP found their mother lying dead in a ditch on a highway a few kilometres away from Carman, Man. Later that day, police located the body of the niece at their home in the small town.

All five victims lived together with the suspect, Ryan Howard Manoakeesick. RCMP provided their ages, but did not name them. Family and friends identified the victims, including on a GoFundMe fundraising campaign, as 30-year-old Amanda Clearwater, six-year-old Bethany, four-year-old Jayven, newborn Isabella and 17-year-old Myah-Lee Gratton.

Mr. Manoakeesick, a resident of Carman and a member of the Pinaymootang First Nation, was arrested Sunday near the burning vehicle around the Rural Municipality of Cartier.

Manitoba has the second highest rate of intimate partner violence among Canadian provinces at a rate of 633 per 100,000 people, according to police-reported data from Statistics Canada for 2022.

On Sunday, RCMP said they believed that a witness pulled the children from the vehicle on fire. But on Monday, Insp. Arseneault said Mr. Manoakeesick was the person who had removed the kids, and has since co-operated with the investigation.

For first-degree charges to be laid, there would need to be “premeditation and some planning involved,” Insp. Arseneault told reporters at a press conference at RCMP Manitoba headquarters in Winnipeg.

“Young, innocent lives were senselessly taken,” he said. “We continue to have dozens of officers work on this file to ensure there is a thorough and complete investigation.”

Police have not yet confirmed the cause of death for all five victims. Autopsies were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.

The small bungalow in the north end of Carman where Ms. Gratton was found dead was taped off as forensic crews completed their work. It is a one-bedroom house painted white, with a grey garden shed, that the family had rented.

Children’s toys and a small bike were scattered on the sombre back lawn, while some furniture and a mattress were strewn untidily on the side porch on Monday. Police cars were lined up outside, as officers kept going in and out of the house throughout the day.

Neighbours said the family was quiet and mostly kept to themselves since they moved to the area about a year or so ago.

“I barely heard a peep,” said Randy McFarlane, who lives a few houses down the street. Another neighbour, Kristi Lamb, said that “they rarely came to the dinners we all went to at church.”

Carman is often called a drive-by town in the agricultural belt, said Superintendent Terry Osiowy of the Prairie Rose School Division, under which Ms. Gratton attended Carman Collegiate and Bethany went to Carman Elementary. About 3,000 people live in the Prairie town close to the U.S. border of North Dakota, many of whom either grew up in the community or moved from Winnipeg, which is about 85 kilometres away.

“This really has shook us all,” Mr. Osiowy said in an interview at his office on Main Street in Carman.

“It’s been shockingly quiet with the kids in school who knew them,” he said. “But I’m sure the impact will become obvious. This is completely not typical of Carman. I really hope we can get through this together.”

At the Winnipeg press conference, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said this is a “dark time” for the entire province. He remembered what it is like to have young children – holding a 2½-month old or walking with a small child – or to be with a teenager who should be “thinking of grad clothes,” he said.

“This is pure darkness,” Mr. Kinew said, as Cathy Merrick, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, watched him, weeping before they hugged and sobbed together.

“These bonds are sacred. And, in this time, it’s difficult for us right now because these sacred bonds have been broken in our province and there is no context,” he said. “There is no explanation that can make this okay.”

Ms. Merrick said culturally appropriate services are needed to prevent tragedies like this from happening again.

“We only get one chance at life. We have to respect it,” she said. “We have to ensure that our relatives respect life, so they don’t end up in the systems. We have a lot of responsibility as leaders, as mothers, as kokums.”

Earlier this month, the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth’s office raised the alarm about a record number of youth dying because of intimate partner violence, addictions and suicide. The independent agency pointed to a “shared failure” between various government departments to take action to curb deaths, calling their progress on its recommendations “unacceptably slow.”

In July, 2023, Manitoba signed a bilateral agreement with Ottawa to end gender-based violence. The federal government has committed $22.3-million over four years to support the implementation of its national action plan with funding earmarked to enhance support services for those affected by such violence and for prevention initiatives in the province.

With a report from Stephanie Chambers in Toronto