'I tried to help him,' girlfriend testifies at Brandon manslaughter trial for alleged drug dealer

Chelsea Kemp · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 25, 2025 8:09 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

The woman of a 30-year-old Brandon antheral who died successful 2020 told a tribunal Tuesday astir the past moments of his life, arsenic a manslaughter proceedings began for the pistillate accused of selling the drugs helium took earlier his death.

Witness Chrissy Nepinak, 33, told the tribunal hours aft she and her boyfriend, Michael Crede, divided a gram of MDMA, oregon ecstasy, on July 25, 2020, he began to shingle and foam astatine the rima earlier helium yet became unresponsive.

"I tried to assistance him.… I grabbed a sweater from my trunk and past I went backmost successful [the car], and I wiped his mouth," Nepinak told Crown lawyer Rich Lonstrup during questioning astatine Court of King's Bench successful Brandon, Man.

"Right aft that, helium conscionable … stopped shaking and everything, and was conscionable still."

She told the tribunal astatine the judge-only proceedings before Justice Elliot Leven that the drugs were purchased from Hailey Lepine, 35.

Lepine, who has pleaded not guilty, is charged with manslaughter, transgression negligence and unlawfully trafficking a controlled substance, with prosecutors alleging she provided the MDMA knowing it to beryllium a unsafe substance, causing Crede's death.

Charges were laid aft a year-long investigation, and Lepine's proceedings has been delayed twice.

'He was already gone'

Court heard Nepinak had known Crede for astir a decade. At the clip of his decease they had been dating for astir a year, and it was the 2nd clip they had been successful a relationship.

Nepinak said they planned to bent retired connected July 25, 2020, and were looking to usage recreational drugs. She testified she messaged Lepine connected a societal media app and they agreed to conscionable astatine a Brandon hotel.

She told tribunal erstwhile she secured the MDMA, she went to Crede's location astatine the Brentwood Trailer Park. They divided a gram of the MDMA, arsenic they had done successful the past, she said.

After a mates of hours, she decided to get cigarettes and helped Crede locomotion done his location to her car, due to the fact that helium was unsteady connected his feet, she testified.

As soon arsenic they near the trailer park, Crede began having seizures and foaming astatine the mouth, truthful she pulled implicit into the parking batch of a section bowling alley, she said.

"I tried to cheque for a pulse oregon something," aft stopping, she said.

"I enactment my caput connected his thorax to spot if I could perceive anything. But I didn't."

Defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn asked wherefore Nepinak didn't telephone 911 oregon spell to the infirmary erstwhile Crede was intelligibly having a aesculapian emergency. Nepinak said she never thought of it, and didn't bash thing due to the fact that she believed helium was already dead.

"I didn't privation to judge it, but I knew helium was already gone," Nepinak said.

Cross-examination casts uncertainty connected cause source

During cross-examination, Synyshyn argued it seemed improbable the drugs had travel from Lepine, suggesting alternatively she got them from her brother.

When Synyshyn asked if helium had provided the drugs that killed Crede, denied helium had.

The defence lawyer besides said nary 1 could spot Nepinak with Lepine connected the time Crede died, and that the messages Nepinak alleged Lepine sent astir selling her drugs were besides deleted from Nepinak's telephone that morning.

Synyshyn also pointed retired that Nepinak didn't instantly supply Lepine's sanction to the police. She testified she didn't initially privation to give police a name, but changed her caput erstwhile they told her she could assistance forestall much deaths by telling them wherever the drugs came from.

He argued Nepinak supplied Lepine's sanction to constabulary due to the fact that she knew either she oregon the idiosyncratic who sold her the drugs would beryllium successful trouble.

"You didn't privation to archer constabulary wherever you got those drugs," Synyshyn said. "You picked a sanction retired of bladed aerial due to the fact that you didn't privation to springiness them the sanction of your brother."

Nepinak denied that.

The proceedings continues Wednesday with grounds from a pathologist, a toxicologist and a constabulary officer.

Lepine is expected to attest connected Thursday, the past time of the trial.