Second teen charged with murder in Assiniboine Park slaying

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This article was published 07/03/2022 (978 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A second teen has been arrested in the February slaying of a 43-year-old Winnipeg man in Assiniboine Park, city police confirmed Tuesday.

Paul Enns was found dead in his car in a parking lot near Shaftesbury Boulevard and Conservatory Drive at 3 a.m., Feb. 26. A park security officer alerted police after approaching the car and finding Enns dead inside, a city hall source told the Free Press last week.

On March 4, Winnipeg police arrested a 17-year-old boy from Warren. Three days earlier, a 15-year-old girl from Stonewall was arrested.

A police spokesman said investigators were aware of the second suspect at the time of the first suspect’s arrest, but were not then in a position to arrest him.

“We weren’t able to effect an arrest until the weekend, not because we couldn’t find him, but we couldn’t put that into play,” said Const. Rob Carver.

Carver said he could not confirm a report the teen male was in hospital prior to his arrest. Last week, the female accused’s lawyer, David Walker, said a male suspect was in hospital for treatment of an ailment unrelated to the killing and was expected to be arrested as soon as his condition allowed.

Both teens have been charged with second-degree murder and robbery.

Carver said Tuesday the two accused teens knew each other but declined to provide any further detail, as it might help to identify them.

Carver said there was communication between the two accused and Enns prior to his arrival at the park and that the man arrived alone.

“I can’t give you details as to the nature of the connection,” Carver said.

“The charges kind of paint a picture as to what likely happened here,” he said. “There’s a level of premeditation here above manslaughter.”

Police have not said how Enns was killed.

The female accused, who is still being held in isolation at the Manitoba Youth Centre, appeared in court via video Tuesday. A bail hearing has been set for March 14.

The slight girl sat alone in a spartan room with only a chair and wall-mounted phone, dressed in baggy, grey youth centre-issue sweats.

Walker told provincial court Judge Heather Pullan he had been hoping to make a bail application Tuesday, but was still waiting for further disclosure from the Crown.

The defence lawyer said he had no more disclosure — a three-page police report — than he did last week at the time of the teen’s first court appearance, “which is problematic.”

Walker said the girl “understands the severity of the charges she is facing.”

The male teen made his first court appearance Monday. His next court date is March 16.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca