A 25-year-old Winnipeg man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after fatally stabbing a stranger on a North End street.
Twenty-two-year-old Allan Anderson died May 31, 2023, after he was stabbed three times in the chest during a confrontation that remains largely unexplained.
“Allan had so much life left to live and it was gone in a blink of an eye, and we will never know why,” his aunt Rebecca Roulette told court at a sentencing hearing for Cory Watt this week.
Watt was originally charged with second-degree murder, but in a plea bargain, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Aug. 27, on what was to be the first day of his preliminary hearing.
A short agreed statement of facts provided to court says Anderson and his 16-year-old girlfriend were outside a home in the 400 block of Burrows Avenue around 3:30 a.m. when Watt approached them “and began swinging a knife in their direction.”
Court was provided no explanation about what, if anything, had precipitated the threatening action.
Anderson and his girlfriend retreated to the residence, and enlisted a few friends to help them chase away Watt, his brother and his brother’s girlfriend.
Anderson and a male friend armed themselves with bear spray and followed Watt and his companions to a nearby convenience store where they confronted Watt’s group and discharged the bear spray in the direction of the two males.
“An altercation broke out” and Watt stabbed Anderson three times in the chest, puncturing his heart and lung.
Anderson was able to walk a short distance before collapsing. He was taken to Health Sciences Centre, where he died a short time later.
Watt ran away and was arrested at a Manitoba Avenue home less than an hour later.
Had the case gone to trial on a charge of second-degree murder, arguments of provocation or self-defence, or evidence the accused was impaired by alcohol, could have resulted in an acquittal, Crown attorney Sarah Murdoch told provincial court Judge Cynthia Devine.
Defence lawyer Ethan Pollock said Watt was raised in a home marred by domestic violence and alcohol abuse, which hastened his own slide into alcohol addiction.
Watt was “extremely apologetic” and remorseful for his actions, Pollock said, arguing eight years is a “significant” sentence for a young man with no prior criminal record.
“Unfortunately, this is a situation where anger and alcohol consumption resulted in violence,” Pollock said.
Family members at the time told the Free Press that Anderson died while saving his girlfriend from being stabbed.
Anderson’s death has been “soul-crushing and life-altering,” his mother said in a victim impact statement that was read out in court Tuesday.
“The fact that someone has taken my son’s life in such a horrific way will haunt me for the rest of my days,” Amanda Anderson said.
The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life in prison. There is no minimum sentence, except in cases where a firearm is used (four years).
Devine described Anderson’s death as a “horrible, random killing,” but said that did not mean he should be subject to the maximum sentence.
“We do not punish people more than necessary,” she said. “A 25-year-old man is going to spend one-third of his life in custody. Eight years is a long time.”
dean.pritchard@freepress.com
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.
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