Guilty of viciously killing girlfriend

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This article was published 29/05/2019 (2106 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A polygamous man who used violence, methamphetamine, financial abuse and psychological manipulation to control multiple women has been found guilty of murdering one of his longtime girlfriends.

Perez Cleveland, 46, was found guilty of first degree murder Wednesday night in the August 2016 death of 42-year-old Jennifer Barrett. The former nurse was one of six women who lived with Cleveland in a Waverley Heights home. Her body was discovered inside a barrel beside the two-storey house at 38 Forest Lake Dr. four months later. The remains were encased in a drain-cleaner-based chemical mixture that was meant to speed up decomposition, Cleveland’s Court of Queen’s Bench trial heard. Two of the women in the house testified Cleveland ordered them to dispose of Barrett’s body and clean up the crime scene.

The jury of seven men and five women was sequestered after 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and deliberated for about four hours before reaching a verdict.

The decision follows two weeks of graphic testimony from four women who detailed the torture Cleveland inflicted upon them for months and even years. They, along with forensic experts, police, and a neighbour, established the Crown’s case against Cleveland, who pleaded not guilty and argued there was not enough evidence to convict him of first-degree murder. In the days before Barrett’s death, the jury was told, Cleveland accused her of cheating on him and beat her for days in the basement.

The first-degree murder charge was laid because the fatal assaults allegedly happened while Cleveland was already “physically and psychologically” confining Barrett.

He faces an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.

“The details of this case have been difficult,” Court of Queen’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal acknowledged as he thanked jurors for their service Wednesday.

During his instructions, Joyal gave jurors four options: they could either acquit Cleveland, find him guilty of first-degree murder, find him guilty of second-degree murder or find him guilty of manslaughter. A murder conviction means an automatic life sentence, but manslaughter has no minimum or maximum penalty.

Barrett had known Cleveland for many years, and they had a child together. She joined his polygamous household around 2012, and in 2013, she signed a handwritten contract referring to Cleveland as her “master” and to herself as a “submissive.”

Over the years, the group moved across Canada and carried out scams such as credit-card skimming. After Cleveland arrived in Winnipeg with Barrett, two other girlfriends and his adult daughter, he was dealing meth and he used the drug to entice two other women to move in, court heard.

All of the women testified they lived under Cleveland’s control and were afraid to disobey him because he would beat and torture them.

They testified they were afraid to leave because Cleveland threatened to hunt them down and kill them as well as their family members.

During the trial, which began May 14, the four other women who lived with Cleveland detailed the violence, torture, interrogations, manipulation and financial control they suffered at his hands. Early in their relationships with him, he was charming and bought them gifts, but each of the women said his charm gave way to violence and control that made them fear for their lives.

Joyal told the jury if they believed Cleveland had a “pattern of behaviour,” they could use that evidence to help them reach a verdict.

Testimony from the women shed light on Barrett’s last moments alive.

She was already “black and blue from head to toe,” covered in welts, burns and bruises, and couldn’t lift her arms when one of the women saw her go back down to the basement with Perez.

Just before she died, she stumbled out of the basement laundry room, appearing to have a head injury, another woman testified.

Cleveland allegedly poured water on her and Tasered her in the leg in an attempt to revive her.

Cleveland’s defence lawyer, Steven Brennan, urged the jury to acquit him. If jurors believed Cleveland was involved in Barrett’s death, his defence lawyer Steven Brennan argued, they should consider her death an accident and convict him of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Crown prosecutors Breta Passler and Chris Vanderhooft argued Barrett died because of the extreme level of control and violence Cleveland exerted over the women.

Although the cause of death couldn’t be officially determined, Crown and defence agreed Barrett died by an unlawful act. Cleveland’s defence lawyer argued there was a reasonable doubt Cleveland was the killer. The other women who were living in the home when Barrett died testified they heard screams coming from the basement, but none of them saw Cleveland beating Barrett. Brennan suggested one of the other women in the house could have killed Barrett.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay