Kinew calls slayings ‘pure darkness’

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This article was published 13/02/2024 (681 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba father is charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the killings of his three young children, his common-law wife and her niece Sunday, in what is being described as an “unimaginable tragedy.”

Ryan Howard Manoakeesick, 29, was charged Monday, as friends identified the victims as his partner Amanda Clearwater, 30, their three kids — two-month-old Isabella, four-year-old Jayven and six-year-old Bethany — and Clearwater’s 17-year-old niece, Myah Gratton. The victims and suspect lived together in a house in Carman, about 145 kilometres southeast of Brandon.

“Our thoughts continue to be with the families and friends who are dealing with this unimaginable tragedy,” RCMP Insp. Tim Arseneault told a news conference Monday afternoon.

“Young, innocent lives were senselessly taken yesterday, and we grieve with all Manitobans.”

The mass killing is one of the biggest homicide cases in Manitoba in more than a decade. Manoakeesick has a history of drug and mental-health struggles, court records show.

Premier Wab Kinew said the loss of an entire family is “a dark time” in Manitoba.

“There is no context, there is no explanation that can make this OK. This is pure darkness,” he said. “But, I want to say to the people of Manitoba that we are not helpless in the face of darkness.

“We can take action and work together to protect the vulnerable. We can offer comfort. We can offer support. We can find support in faith.”

After speaking, he hugged Cathy Merrick, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, as she wept. Merrick told reporters she was heartbroken.

“I have grandchildren, and I was thinking about them when I was sitting here, and that we have to prevent these things from happening to our families,” she said.

RCMP confirmed the victims and suspect are Indigenous.

Devastated friends and family remembered Clearwater, her children and Gratton as caring and loving people.

“She was a sweet, strong girl,” said Lee Huntinghawk, Gratton’s cousin. “Her smile was so beautiful and bright.”

A Clearwater family friend, who asked not to be named, called for justice.

“The biggest question I have is, why them? They didn’t deserve this,” the friend said. “They’ve done nothing wrong to anybody at all. It’s very tragic, very horrific.

“They were amazing people. Amanda was the type of person who would help you in any way. Her kids were everything to her.”

Clearwater, the children and Gratton were found at three separate scenes within about 75 kilometres of each other in southern Manitoba.

Carman RCMP officers discovered Clearwater in a ditch next to Highway 3, about seven kilometres south of the town, while responding to what was initially reported as a hit-and-run collision at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

Officers from the Headingley detachment were then called to a burning vehicle on Provincial Road 248 near St. Eustache at 10 a.m.

Three young children were killed at the scene. A suspect was arrested near the vehicle.

RCMP said initial reports from police that a witness pulled the children from the burning vehicle were incorrect, and that it was the suspect who removed them.

Officers visited the family’s Carman home and discovered Gratton’s body, while investigating the children’s deaths.

Gratton helped take care of Clearwater’s children, said a friend who asked not to be identified.

“She was the funniest and most caring person you could ever meet,” said the friend, who met Gratton in middle school. “She promised to protect those little kids until her last breath, and that’s exactly what she did.

“I looked up to Amanda as one of my aunties. She was loving and caring, and just a really strong woman. She cared so much about every kid that walked through her door.”

Arseneault said they didn’t launch a search for the children after Clearwater’s body was found because RCMP were attempting to identify her.

Autopsies began Monday to confirm how the victims died. RCMP released limited information about them, while continuing to build a timeline of the slayings.

A charge of first-degree murder is laid in slayings that are allegedly planned and deliberate.

“We have evidence that gets us to the point where we believe there is a reasonable likelihood of a conviction,” Arseneault told reporters.

“We do have evidence, and we do understand some of the timeline. I’m not going to speak to them yet.”

RCMP would not confirm if officers had previously been to the home.

Friends said Clearwater and Manoakeesick began dating more than a decade ago.

“I was honest with Amanda from the get-go about how I felt about Ryan,” said the family friend. “She knew I didn’t like him.”

Court records show Manoakeesick has a limited criminal record, with one conviction in 2019 for mischief to property under $5,000, for which he received a conditional discharge and 18 months supervised probation.

He was under the influence of methamphetamine and “confused and delirious” when he entered a detached garage in East Elmwood in July 2019, accidentally locked himself inside and caused damage.

Manoakeesick was taken to Health Sciences Centre in a state of psychosis and released later that day. That evening, he was at a Tim Hortons restaurant on Portage Avenue when he told staff to call police and threw a glass mug at an electronic display, shattering it. Staff locked themselves in a back room and called 911.

“He advises me his mental-health issues are solely dealing with some anxiety and depression,” Manoakeesick’s lawyer at the time, Matt Munce, told provincial court Judge Kelly Moar. “There may be a suggestion of some further underlying mental-health issues.

“Whether that is crystal meth use, or more persistent mental-health issues, (they) can be explored through probation services.”

Manoakeesick told court he lived in Carman, “supporting my family” — Amanda Clearwater and their two children, at the time.

He said he lost his job with a pipe manufacturer several months earlier after he sought help for mental-health issues. He later “relapsed.”

Moar ordered that Manoakeesick undergo addictions and mental-health assessments while on probation.

“At the end of the day, if you don’t do something, it is going to cost you your family,” Moar said.

More recently, Manoakeesick was charged with two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm after the vehicle he was allegedly driving Sept. 11, 2021, collided with a passenger van carrying nine people on Highway 3, east of Carman.

Manoakeesick was arrested and released on a summons to appear in court. His case was set for trial last August, but after his lawyer reported in April they had lost contact with him, a warrant was issued for Manoakeesick’s arrest.

He was taken into custody July 14 and released on bail four days later despite opposition from the Crown.

“Given that Mr. Manoakeesick previously lost contact with his lawyer in this case, the Crown has some concerns,” prosecutor Jenna Robinson told provincial court Judge Mark Kantor. “Detention is necessary to ensure he attends future court dates.”

Manoakeesick’s lawyer said he was on long-term disability due to his “mental-health struggles.”

“I am being told he is doing much better,” the lawyer told court.

Kantor released Manoakeesick on $1,000 cash bail, with a requirement he live at the Carman home he shared with Clearwater. Clearwater’s mother was named as a surety.

» Winnipeg Free Press