Man acquitted in deadly crash

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This article was published 30/06/2023 (1172 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DAUPHIN — Clare McBride begged God for mercy in the moments after she learned the man accused of killing her two young children in a drunk driving crash had been acquitted Thursday of all charges.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Sandra Zinchuk ruled there was reasonable doubt Jack Winters, 28, was behind the wheel during an August 2019 collision that killed Oksana Dutchyshen, 6, and Quinn Dutchyshen, 4, at an intersection outside Dauphin.

“A reasonable doubt is not an imaginary or frivolous doubt. It is not based on sympathy for, or prejudice against, anybody involved in the proceedings … Even if I believe that Winters is probably guilty, or likely guilty, that is not sufficient,” the judge said.

After hearing the verdict, McBride crumpled to the floor just steps outside the courtroom.

“Why, God? Why?” she said, wailing and clinging to loved ones.

Pandemonium erupted inside the courtroom. Dozens rallied around McBride, some shedding tears of their own. Others screamed obscenities and accusations of incompetence at investigators and court staff.

Winters was ushered out the building’s rear exit.

“It’s just total injustice, and we have to live with it. We have to live with the aftermath of being without those little girls for the rest of our lives,” said Gaylene Dutchyshen, the victims’ grandmother.

“It affected all of our family, but mostly it affected them because they don’t get to grow up. They don’t get to go to school. Everything is empty without them.”

Doubt cast on who was actually driving

The decision marked an end to a long and painful series of legal hearings.

On Aug. 16, 2019, Winters was travelling east on Road 457 North around 8 p.m., with friend Jeffrey Thompson in a Ford F-150 registered to Winters, when the truck drove past a stop sign and collided with a Dodge Ram heading northbound on Highway 362.

McBride was driving the Dodge. She and an adult passenger were seriously injured. The children died in hospital.

The court heard Winters and Thompson had been drinking heavily in the hours prior, with each recording blood alcohol levels more than double the legal driving limit.

Investigators learned the Ford rolled at least once during the collision and came to a rest upside-down. Neither man was wearing a seatbelt.

Thompson is believed to have been ejected; Winters was found on the ground near the driver’s-side door.

An eyewitness testified at an earlier hearing they’d seen a man hanging in the driver’s seat before crawling out onto the ground.

Winters claimed to have no memory of the crash or the days leading up to it. Thompson provided conflicting accounts to police about who was driving the Ford.

Thompson, 26, died in an unrelated incident in October 2020, further complicating the investigation.

Crown attorney Mitchell Lavitt fought to prove it was Winters behind the wheel, while defence attorney Jonathan Pinx argued there was insufficient evidence to convict beyond a reasonable doubt.

Before rendering her decision, Zinchuk outlined the evidence against Winters, including matching DNA found on the driver’s-side airbag. No other DNA was detected on the deployed airbag.

Pinx argued DNA might have been inadvertently transferred during the investigation or if Winters was unable to exit from the passenger door and contacted the airbag while crawling out the driver’s side.

Zinchuk agreed this was possible and deemed the DNA evidence circumstantial.

Cleared of all 15 charges

Further doubt was cast by statements Thompson made immediately after the crash. According to the court, he told paramedics that arrived on scene he was driving the pickup. Later that night, he changed his statement, saying he “might” have been driving.

The defence argued Thompson was drunk, confused and delirious at the time, but testimony from first responders said he was alert and able to answer some questions.

Ten months after the accident, he provided another statement to police, this time saying he was not the driver.

“Thompson was very emotional during the interview. I have no doubt he was haunted by the deaths of Oksana and Quinn. However, this statement was made 10 months after the collision. The tragic consequences of the collision were, by then, known to Thompson,” the judge said.

“Even if I did not rely on Thompson’s first statement at all, I would find it inconclusive the DNA evidence on its own is sufficient … Accordingly, I must find the defendant not guilty on all counts.”

Winters was cleared of 15 charges relating to impaired and dangerous driving causing death. He is considered innocent in the court of law.

“We don’t have a reasonable doubt. We know our grandchildren are dead,” Gaylene Dutchyshen said outside the court building. “They chose to get in that vehicle … The decisions he made that day, it just destroyed our family.

“It is shattered beyond repair.”

The grandmother said she’s already spoken to the Crown attorney about a possibly appealing the acquittal.

Less than an hour after the hearing, Winters posted a photo to social media celebrating the verdict with the caption: “All I do is win, baby. Victory.”

The post has since been deleted.

Dutchyshen said it proves Winters feels no remorse.

Thompson’s sister agreed.

“It’s inhumane … the fact, he’s showing zero remorse for any of it,” Jen Thompson said in a message to the Winnipeg Free Press.

“Jeff cried every day because he was involved in this and two girls died from it. He had nightmares and said he should have died … because those girls didn’t deserve to.”

Speaking to reporters before the hearing Thursday, McBride said the outcome would not change circumstances for her family.

“Either way, they are not coming back … The girls were given a life sentence within seconds,” she said.

“There’s no justice in the justice system.”

» Winnipeg Free Press