Man pleads guilty in fatal 2022 Christmas Day apartment fire in Winnipeg

October 10, 2024 Canuck

A Winnipeg man with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder who told police he has a “fascination with fire” has pleaded guilty to arson and manslaughter after admitting to starting an apartment fire that killed two people and sent four others to hospital on Christmas Day in 2022.

Ethan Powderhorn, 28, entered those pleas in a Winnipeg courtroom Thursday morning, agreeing with a list of facts read by his lawyer, stating he started two fires at the Warwick Apartments on Qu’Appelle Avenue in the early morning hours of Dec. 25.

“This is not an agreed statement of facts that came up quickly or suddenly. Because of Mr. Powderhorn’s challenges, we’ve gone very slow. We’ve met with him multiple times over the space of a couple of months, reviewed it repeatedly,” lawyer Scott Newman told Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Candace Grammond.

Lawyers say they plan to jointly recommend a sentence of 15 years at Powderhorn’s sentencing next month.

While Powderhorn initially said the first small fire on Dec. 25, 2022, started just after midnight when a candle fell on his bed, he later admitted to starting it with a propane torch. Court heard there were no candles in his suite, and there were marks that appeared to be from a torch on the blanket that caught fire.

After firefighters put out that blaze, court heard emergency responders and building security kicked Powderhorn out of the building and told him not to return without permission.

While he said he was going to stay with his mom, Powderhorn came back about 10 minutes after crews left the building.

Around 4 a.m., he started another fire on his mattress that quickly spread, filling the third floor of the building with black smoke, court heard.

Charred windows, missing glass, on a red-brick apartment building. — Charred windows face Carlton Street after a fire in the Warwick Apartments on Christmas morning in 2022. Six people were sent to hospital as a result of the fire, including two who died. (Bartley Kives/CBC)

One of Powderhorn’s neighbours, who tried but was unable to put the fire out, gave Powderhorn a fire extinguisher before leaving to try to get others out of the building.

Court heard Powderhorn did not use the fire extinguisher and instead started going downstairs.

He later told police that the fires were accidental and happened while he was using down, a street drug that’s a mixture of heroin and fentanyl that court heard Powderhorn used regularly.

“Ethan told police he was smoking down while using a propane torch on his mattress, passed out and, while unconscious, knocked over the torch, which caused his bedsheets and mattress to start on fire,” Newman said.

Court heard fire investigators found three propane torches in Powderhorn’s kitchen when they searched his apartment, but none in his bedroom.

The fire led to the deaths of two people — Roger Glen Doblej, 63, and Suzanne Helen McCooeye, 70 — who court heard opened their door to escape but immediately collapsed. They were found unresponsive in the hallway and later died in hospital from smoke inhalation.

Four other neighbours also had to be treated in hospital for smoke inhalation. Police said at the time that they ranged in age from 47 to 79.

The fire also trapped multiple residents in their suites and left some with no belongings, police said at the time.

The damage to the apartment building, which court heard was home to about 200 people, was estimated to be over $1 million.

Powderhorn was initially charged with two counts of second-degree murder and four counts of arson.

‘For the fun of it’

Court heard Powderhorn also set a number of other fires in and around garbage bins in the days and weeks leading up to the deadly apartment blaze, and told police he “has a fascination with fire” and would set garbage bins on fire weekly “purely for the fun of it,” Newman said.

The lawyer said Powderhorn has a number of developmental delays related to his fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and also suffered a brain injury in October 2022.

He was described in court as a vulnerable person who needs help living on his own and who, at the time of the fires, was supported by the public guardian and trustee and the province’s Community Living DisAbility Services.

A representative from Community Living DisAbility Services previously told court there were limited supports available to Powderhorn because of the nature of his charges and his history of violence.

WATCH | Man charged with second-degree murder following deadly Christmas morning fire:

Man charged with 2nd-degree murder following deadly Christmas morning fire

2 years ago

Duration 1:38

Ethan Powderhorn has been charged with 2nd-degree murder and arson after a fatal fire on Christmas day. Two people died, four others were sent to hospital and dozens were displaced from their homes.

Powderhorn was previously convicted of a number of other offences, including arson. A year before the deadly apartment fire, a Manitoba judge said she was concerned Powderhorn wasn’t getting enough support to keep him and the community safe, saying he was impulsive and highly vulnerable due to his FASD.

Court previously heard Powderhorn lived in Kenora, Ont., before moving to Winnipeg, and that he was “essentially left to his own devices” once he turned 18 and began using illegal substances.

Powderhorn’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 4.

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