Accused used fuel-filled bottle to set blaze that killed two, court hears

Alex Courchene failed once to set a North End church ablaze, then returned a day later and tried again, starting a fire that killed two people living in an upstairs apartment suite, a jury was told Monday.

Courchene, 30, has pleaded not guilty to arson and two counts of second-degree murder in the Sept. 14, 2024, deaths of Zenabu Gula, 38, and Geda Wodisso, 49.

“Make no mistake — these are serious charges,” Crown attorney Sarah Thiessen said in an opening address to jurors. “But I suggest that the case itself is straightforward.”

Prosecutors allege that on the morning of September 13, Courchene went to the building, located at the corner of Main Street and Atlantic Avenue, ignited a fuel-filled plastic pop bottle and left it in a stairwell leading to the upstairs apartment suites before fleeing on an electric scooter.

“Make no mistake, these are serious charges.”

The arson attempt failed and Courchene returned the next morning.

“This time he succeeded,” Thiessen said. “The building was engulfed in flames.”

Fire Captain Scott Atchison led the first team of firefighters to the church shortly before 3 a.m.

“We could see a heavy amount of smoke over the tree line” as fire trucks approached the scene and “heavy projected flame” shooting from the building, Atchison told jurors.

Atchison said he quickly notified dispatch the fire posed a “high potential” for victim casualties.

“It was a high-risk event due to the potential occupants being trapped on the second floor of the structure,” Atchison testified.

Atchison said firefighters attempted to reach the second floor via the stairwell but it collapsed from the fire, forcing them to enter the apartment area through a second-floor window.

“It was very low visibility, lots of smoke,” Atchison said. “We had to move slowly and crawl” on the floor.

Atchison entered a suite and found an unconscious male, later identified as Wodisso, slumped over on the floor, and an unconscious woman later identified as Gula prone on the floor two feet away.

Atchison said firefighters passed the two victims to firefighters waiting on a ladder outside their apartment window.

Paramedics tried to resuscitate the couple before they were transported to hospital where they were pronounced dead.

Two other victims were rescued before firefighters arrived and were treated for smoke inhalation.

“It was very low visibility, lots of smoke… We had to move slowly and crawl.”

Pathologist Dr. Angela Miller told jurors Gula and Wodisso died from smoke inhalation.

Winnipeg Police Service Constable Christine Hannah testified a witness told police they saw a man at the scene discard something in a nearby recycling bin. Police searched the bin and recovered a crushed plastic Pepsi bottle that Hannah said smelled of fuel.

Security video in the area captured images of a suspect believed to have started the fire. Police arrested Courchene four days later.

Trial witnesses will include a police detective involved in arresting Courchene and interviewing him on video.

“Through this witness, you will have an opportunity to watch the accused’s video-recorded statement and hear what he had to say,” Thiessen said.

Courchene sat in the prisoner’s box wearing a charcoal suit jacket and appeared to listen attentively during witness testimony.

No possible motive for the arson was disclosed in court.

The trial resumes Tuesday and is set to last three weeks.

Dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca