Slain Portage family ‘never got a chance at life’ By: Chris Kitching Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, Apr. 18, 2022 Last Modified: 8:37 PM CDT Monday, Apr. 18, 2022 Updates

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This article was published 17/04/2022 (984 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — A mother and two children found dead in a fire-damaged duplex had futures with “so much promise,” according to grief-stricken relatives desperate for answers after the triple homicide.

The victims were identified by family Monday as Shantelle Murphy, 32, her six-year-old daughter, Isabella, and three-year-old son, Mason.

“She and the kids didn’t deserve this. They were taken too soon, and in not a nice way,” Murphy’s mother, Tammi St. Jean, told the Free Press. “They’re going to be deeply missed. They were extremely loved.”

Trevis McLeod, 50, is accused of killing his partner and children, and setting fire to their Portage la Prairie home. The bodies were found after firefighters extinguished the blaze at about 1 a.m. April 10.

McLeod allegedly assaulted a family member at a different Portage home after the fire.

Winnipeg police arrested him in the downtown area April 15, and turned him over to RCMP major crime services, after a manhunt. McLeod is charged with three counts of second-degree murder and one each of arson and assault.

Police haven’t divulged details about a possible motive nor how the victims were killed.

St. Jean, 57, hopes to get answers soon, as scenarios keep playing in her head.

“As a mom, my brain is just going wild. I cannot even imagine how anyone could do this. I just don’t understand why,” she said by phone from her Calgary home. “I don’t know why (Shantelle) couldn’t reach out. I would have been there in an instant.

“My heart is breaking because this didn’t have to happen. The whole family has been devastated. I have to put some reason behind this because they never got a chance at life.”

A family member set up a GoFundMe page to cover the cost of transporting the remains to Calgary and holding a funeral for them.

“Obviously, this was domestic violence at its worst,” said St. Jean. “It’s very important for the family to bring them home so we can see them off properly in a loving way.”

Murphy was a “beautiful” soul whose children were her “everything,” said St. Jean.

“Shantelle was bright and funny, and she loved those kids with all her heart. She had a lot of potential, and I know she wanted to go back to school and provide a better life for her kids,” she said.

“Isabella was so talkative about everything. She was talking at an early age and Shantelle was so proud of her. Mason was a bundle of energy. He was non-stop running.”

St. Jean last spoke with her daughter about a year ago, and had been trying to track her down. She didn’t know where Murphy was living and couldn’t find an active phone number for her.

Murphy, who called her mother “sporadically” while moving between provinces, didn’t have a social media presence.

“It’s been extremely hard over the last while,” St. Jean said, as she fought back tears.

She last saw Murphy and her grandchildren about 18 months ago, when she visited them and McLeod at their home in London, Ont.

At that time, there was nothing to suggest her daughter and grandchildren were in any danger, and there was no mention of domestic abuse or control, she said.

Murphy and McLeod began a relationship several years ago, after meeting through a mutual friend in Calgary. They were common-law partners and the children had the last name of Murphy, according to St. Jean.

She didn’t approve of her daughter’s relationship, partly due to the age difference.

“I told her I didn’t care for him at all,” said St. Jean. “She changed a bit when she was with him. She was more to herself and not as forthcoming with information. She always said everything was fine and they were doing OK.”

St. Jean said she didn’t know anything about McLeod, his criminal record or a former partner’s allegations of domestic abuse.

McLeod’s past convictions in Manitoba include assaults, mischief, theft, impaired driving and court order breaches.

His former partner said he was violent toward her and once went after her with a knife.

“I have PTSD. His actions will affect me for the rest of my life,” said the woman, who has two sons with McLeod. “I always knew he would be more than capable of hurting somebody else.”

The woman was granted a protection order against McLeod in 2004. (The Free Press isn’t naming her because she is a victim of domestic violence.)

She said her oldest son, who is 28, escaped the duplex as the April 10 tragedy unfolded, and ran to a family member’s home to call 911.

St. Jean said her daughter’s family moved into the Portage home, some 70 kilometres west of Winnipeg, three or four months ago.

She said McLeod, whose past jobs include drywall installation, has relatives in Portage, and he previously lived in the nearby community of Oakville.

Neighbours on 7th Street S.E. said Murphy and McLeod kept to themselves, and they rarely saw the children playing outside. Murphy’s daughter was a Grade 1 student at École Crescentview School.

A couple with four children lived in the neighbouring duplex unit. They escaped their home without injury, but were displaced by the fire.

St. Jean said she found out about the deaths after the RCMP, who were having trouble finding relatives, sent a Facebook message asking her to call a Manitoba phone number, without explaining why. She called after seeing the message April 11.

“They didn’t have a lot of information. They apologized for having to break the news that way,” she said. “It wasn’t the way I wanted to be notified, but they told me they didn’t have too much information on (Murphy) or next of kin.”

St. Jean said the police have been “very kind” to her family and attentive while investigating the homicides and searching for McLeod, whose arrest last week came as a “relief.”

“I just want him behind bars. I don’t want him to see the light of day again.”

McLeod was arrested and charged with an assault that allegedly occurred April 10, but after the fire. He was released with several court conditions the next day, said RCMP, because there wasn’t enough evidence to hold him as a suspect in the homicides.

St. Jean also thanked Manitobans for their support, after about two dozen people attended a candlelight vigil in front of the duplex Sunday night. Mourners prayed and left stuffed animals and flowers on the doorstep.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching