Man pleads guilty to manslaughter for chasing, stabbing man downtown

An intellectually disabled man who drunkenly chased down a man he had been arguing with and fatally stabbed him in broad daylight admitted to manslaughter on Wednesday.

Matthew Gerald Tomack Pelletier, now 38, chased Ricky Dwayne Mancheese, 49, down Kennedy Street before stabbing him six times in front of his wife on the sidewalk between Sargent and Cumberland avenues, at about 11:50 a.m. on June 11, 2024.

Pelletier, who police arrested the next day, was charged with second-degree murder, but instead pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter in front of Court of King’s Bench Justice Joan McKelvey on Wednesday.

“This type of incident on Winnipeg streets is all too common and must be strongly deterred,” said McKelvey.

Crown prosecutors James Wood and Chantal Boutin and defence lawyers Chelsea Suderman and Saul Simmons jointly recommended George be sentenced to 15 years in prison, less time served, in a plea bargain that McKelvey accepted.

“Mr. Pelletier and Mr. Mancheese knew each other from parenting classes. On June 11, 2024, they argued outside the Balmoral Hotel beer vendor and Mr. Mancheese assaulted Mr. Pelletier,” said Wood.

“Mr. Pelletier returned to his residence, obtained a 6-inch kitchen knife and immediately went back, looking for Mr. Mancheese. At about 11:48 a.m. he approached Mr. Mancheese (and his wife), produced the knife, chased Mr. Mancheese across Kennedy Street, tackled him and stabbed him six times in the upper body.”

Several people witnessed the attack, which was partially captured on video. Pelletier admitted to the stabbing to police investigators.

Mancheese and his wife were on their way to a nearby elementary school to pick up their son for lunchtime when he was attacked, a family member previously told the Free Press.

Mancheese’s wife tried to prepare a formal victim impact statement about how the killing affected her, but was unable to find the words, said Wood.

“(She) described to the Crown the enduring grief, trauma and loss experienced by this tragic event,” said Wood.

Pelletier has significant intellectual impairment, severe alcohol dependence, a history of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and longstanding mental health difficulties,” said Wood.

Those circumstances don’t excuse Pelletier’s killing of Mancheese, Wood said, but inform how morally responsible he can be held for the crime.

His general intellectual ability is in the extremely low range and his intelligence quotient, or IQ, is 68. An IQ of 70 or below is generally considered an intellectual disability.

Defence lawyers intended to rely on Pelletier’s intoxication at the time, that he was defending himself and provoked, and the cumulative effect of his cognitive issues, poor mental health and history of trauma and substance abuse to argue he did not have the necessary intent to commit murder. Those concerns led the Crown and defence lawyers to negotiate the plea bargain.

Pelletier offered an apology to the victim’s family, saying he thinks about what he did every day, and said he hopes for forgiveness from them and from his own family.

Considering time served prior to his guilty plea, Pelletier will serve just under 11.5 more years in prison.

erik.pindera@winnipegfreepress.com