Man found guilty in second-degree murder in the 2022 Marlborough Hotel shooting

September 9, 2024 Canuck

A man has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a 39-year-old man at a downtown Winnipeg hotel in 2022.

Ryan Spence died after the incident at the Regal Beagle bar in the Marlborough Hotel on the evening of April 30, 2022 and a provincial judge recently delivered the verdict, which found Christopher Curtis Bone guilty of second-degree murder on Aug. 29.

The victim was initially taken to the hospital in critical condition and he later died there.

The evidence presented to the court consisted of video surveillance, DNA and fingerprint evidence, as well as witness testimony from several employees who were working the night of the shooting, including a security guard who said the shooter raised a rifle over the guard’s shoulder as they stood face-to-face, firing three times.

mug shot of man with tattoo — Christopher Curtis Bone was found guilty of second-degree murder and is awaiting sentencing. (Winnipeg Police Service)

During his testimony, the security guard said he had responded to an altercation between Spence and a man sitting at the bar many times throughout the night, resulting in Spence being told to leave the bar twice within the hour right before the shooting. Each time Spence returned to yell at the same man sitting at the bar.

Each witness who testified identified a man that fit Bone’s description sitting at the end of the bar. The security guard said it was the man at the end of the bar who had argued with Spence that was the shooter, but no one could identify Bone directly as the shooter.

Video supports testimony, judge says

Court documents show evidence presented included surveillance footage of a man with a face tattoo being picked up by a Unicity taxi from a Sargent Avenue residence and brought to the Marlborough Hotel at 11:10 p.m. The video shows the man and the cab driver entering the hotel together.

At 11:29 p.m. the cab driver leaves the hotel for a moment and returns with a backpack. The driver said he returned the backpack to Bone, who was sitting at the end of the bar.

Judge Shauna McCarthy writes in court documents that Bone was known to the cab driver, who picked Bone out of a photo lineup when questioned in the case.

Defence argues case mostly ‘circumstantial’

Court documents reveal the defence argued that some witnesses in the case were unreliable and had inconsistencies in their testimonies, however they conceded that some of the witnesses were correct after further evidence was presented.

Witnesses whose recollection was challenged included a bartender’s testimony that described serving a man who fit Bone’s description. The bartender could share several details of a man who had a tattoo in the same place as Bone did and wearing similar clothing, but could not identify Bone as the person sitting at the bar in a photo lineup.

The bartender did describe the person at the bar as wearing glasses and police found DNA that matched Bone on glasses that were found in the area where the cab driver said Bone was sitting.

Defence also argued that because Spence was continuously provoking Bone throughout the evening that the charge should be reduced from second-degree murder to manslaughter, however the judge ruled that because Bone was seen as calm and collected throughout the evening that there was no evidence where Bone had to quickly react in order to stave off a physical threat.

The sentencing of Christopher Bone in the second-degree murder of Ryan Spence has not yet been scheduled.

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