Judge acquits vulnerable man of murder due to 'oppressive' Winnipeg police interrogation

Caitlyn Gowriluk · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 9:27 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

A antheral described arsenic a susceptible idiosyncratic with fetal intoxicant spectrum upset was acquitted of second-degree execution past month, aft a Winnipeg justice recovered his constabulary connection was made up of details helium fabricated nether unit — arsenic 2 detectives took turns screaming astatine him "at the apical of their lungs" — and barred it from being utilized arsenic grounds successful his trial.

Jonathan Michael Gladue, 25, was 1 of 3 radical charged with second-degree execution successful the stabbing decease of George Nickolas Demos, 50, who was recovered unresponsive successful a Winnipeg backmost lane successful August 2023.

One of Gladue's co-accused, who was 17 astatine the clip of the sidesplitting and can't beryllium identified, has admitted to fatally stabbing Demos and pleaded blameworthy to second-degree murder. He antecedently told tribunal helium stabbed Demos astatine the absorption of their 3rd co-accused — Nehemiah Fehr, who has since died — aft Fehr said Demos had a backpack that belonged to him arsenic the 3 were retired walking the nighttime of the murder.

Crown lawyer Colin Soul gave little closing arguments successful the proceedings connected March 28, instantly aft Court of King's Bench Justice Herbert Rempel ruled Gladue's connection was not admissible due to the fact that it wasn't fixed voluntarily — saying without that evidence, determination was not overmuch near to enactment prosecution.

"The grounds that you are near with … is him being seen with a radical of individuals aft Mr. Demos's demise portion holding a backpack. That is the entirety of the Crown's grounds to enactment conviction. I'll permission my comments astatine that," Soul said, aft which Rempel acquitted Gladue and released him.

During Gladue's trial, which began March 24, tribunal was shown surveillance video from adjacent the country wherever Demos was killed showing 2 groups coming crossed each different earlier a idiosyncratic the younker co-accused agreed was himself is seen pulling retired the weapon earlier going disconnected camera, which is erstwhile tribunal heard Demos was stabbed.

Gladue is seen lasting adjacent successful the video, not participating successful what's happening, earlier the radical takes disconnected moving arsenic helium is seen holding the backpack taken from Demos.

Lawyer calls constabulary tactics 'egregious'

Prosecutors argued Gladue utilized "tactics" successful his constabulary interrogation similar "repeatedly qualifying his answers with phrases similar 'I assume' oregon 'I suppose'" successful "an effort to deflect and mislead" constabulary astir his involvement, Rempel said successful a written determination released Thursday connected the admissibility of Gladue's statement.

But the justice said helium was satisfied what the detectives "considered deflection oregon distraction" was really "a genuine effort by Mr. Gladue to effort to delight the detectives and connection details that did not travel from his progressive representation but alternatively from his imagination."

"The detectives should person had 2nd thoughts earlier they engaged successful a tag-team screaming match, without astatine minimum taking a interruption to let the accused to stitchery his thoughts," Rempel wrote, adding helium was satisfied Gladue's connection was fixed nether "oppressive circumstances."

Rempel described Gladue's constabulary interrogation arsenic a script wherever detectives utilized "the maximum magnitude of intelligence unit and intimidation they could deliberation of, including virtually screaming astatine the accused astatine the apical of their lungs portion making assertive gestures."

He said helium recovered constabulary "chose to judge that the accused was intentionally lying to them and they ignored immoderate imaginable benign explanations for [his] mischaracterization of the evidence, specified arsenic his utmost intoxication astatine the time, fatigue oregon a cognitive shortage arising from his FASD."

Defence lawyer Chelsea Suderman noted that astatine 1 constituent during the constabulary interview, detectives told Gladue not to "overthink this," and accused him of "trying to enactment 1 measurement up of us" — to which helium replied helium was "two steps behind," past said "from the look of the clips, I guess, and from knowing [Fehr], I would presume [it was a] robbery."

One of the detectives past thanked him "for yet admitting what we person been trying to provender you for the past 5 hours: that you were progressive successful this robbery, adjacent though you person said passim that you weren't," Suderman told court.

She called Gladue's connection to detectives "the astir egregious connection I person ever seen erstwhile dealing with constabulary interrogation tactics," noting radical with his "cognitive deficits are much prone to filling successful the blanks and to being suggestible."

"We are unluckily a jurisdiction that precise often and precise precocious has overturned convictions for beingness sentences based connected mendacious confessions," Suderman said, adding that if Gladue's connection was allowed arsenic grounds arsenic the effect of detectives' "tunnel vision," it could "very good pb to a wrongful condemnation and bring the full medication of justness into disrepute, and the full strategy into disrepute."

"Because realistically, there's nary details that Mr. Gladue provides … that are true, that are corroborated with the outer grounds that we have, with the videos."