Winnipeg police warn of possible serial killer
After two men were brutally killed only a few metres apart on the streets of Winnipeg on Saturday night, police are warning those who “frequent the streets” that an unknown serial killer may be targeting them.
Just after midnight Saturday, the body of an elderly homeless man was located in an alley in a section of downtown within sight of the MTS Centre.
Later, after an entire day of probing the cordoned-off area, investigators were alerted to the presence of a second body only a two-minute walk from the first. This victim, who was younger and reportedly “vulnerable” but not homeless, was in an area under construction behind the Portage Avenue headquarters of APTN.
The discovery was made by a security guard working for APTN. According to the network, homicide investigators briefly seized one of their news cameras “without a warrant” before later returning it.
“Investigators believe that the two incidents are related and that one suspect is responsible for both,” read a Saturday alert by Winnipeg police.
Both men suffered from addiction and mental health issues, and are believed to have been killed only hours apart under cover of darkness Saturday night.
Winnipeg Police spokesman Sgt. John O’Donovan has said the men were “brutally” killed, but is providing no other details. Both bodies are undergoing autopsies and police are withholding their identities until next of kin can be notified.
On Sunday, police first announced they had a “person of interest” in the killings.
In grainy images taken by police from security camera footage, the figure is a man in a black sweater and blue jeans carrying what appears to be a messenger bag.
No motive for the killings is known, although local reports have held that the homicides are related to an April 10 fatal beating.
At a bus shelter only about 800 metres from the site of Saturday’s killings, Myles Monias, 37, was found critically wounded and later died in hospital.
On Sunday, police sources told the Winnipeg Free Press they did not believe the killings were related to the beating, but that they would look into it.
Police are visiting downtown homeless shelters to warn vulnerable populations about the possibility of additional victims. In a statement, Winnipeg police urged the “homeless community” and all others who frequent the street to “avoid secluded areas.”