Enrique George Courchene was coming to the aid of his brother when he was set upon and murdered by three strangers in an unprovoked knife attack at a Winnipeg beer vendor, a jury heard Monday.
Jade Allen Dumas, 28, Calvin Harvey Maytwayashing, 28, and Cecil Vance Roulette, 38, are on trial charged with second-degree murder for the Sept. 24, 2022 killing at the Lipstixx strip club beer vendor on Arlington Street.
Jurors will be shown security video capturing the killing, hear testimony from witnesses at the scene and hear from a pathologist who will detail Courchene’s injuries, Crown attorney Kaley Tschetter said in an opening address. What they won’t hear is why Courchene was killed.
“But motive is not something our law requires you to determine,” Tschetter said.
The three accused sat in adjoining prisoners boxes, separated by plexiglass, as members of Courchene’s family and others sat in the court gallery behind them.
Jurors heard Courchene, 29, arrived at the beer vendor with his brother Ernesto Courchene around 1:10 a.m., the same time as the three accused.
“While at the vendor, they were all interacting positively with each other, when out of nowhere, (Dumas) punched Ernesto in the face, knocking him to the ground,” Tschetter said.
Roulette “escalated things” and pulled out a knife to cut a chain from Ernesto’s neck, at which point Enrique Courchene ran to his aid and was “set upon” by Dumas and Roulette, Tschetter alleged.
Roulette stabbed Enrique Courchene seven times in the chest and back as Ernesto and his girlfriend tried to intervene and were pushed away by Maytwayashing.
The two groups separated and Enrique, his shirt covered in blood, made his way to his brother’s truck, before the three accused attacked him again, with Roulette stabbing the victim two more times, Tschetter alleged.
The three accused “walked away, leaving Enrique to die,” Tschetter said.
Tschetter urged jurors to carefully review video evidence of the three accused’s movements while passengers in a taxi prior to the killing, as well as security video of the killing itself, with special attention to body language, when the knife was drawn, and who was in a position to see it.
The videos “will help you determine the physical, emotional, and mental state of the accused,” Tschetter said.
According to an agreed statement of facts filed in court, police executed search warrants at the homes of Roulette and Dumas and seized shoes with blood on them matching Courchene’s DNA.
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter
Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.
Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.