Mike on Crime

By Winnipeg Free Press

WINNIPEG — A halfway house in Wolseley with a turbulent and violent history is again at the forefront of a criminal investigation as police probe a death that could turn out to be Winnipeg’s 13th homicide.

Winnipeg Police investigators remained at the scene Wednesday, more than 24 hours after their investigation began in a death of a woman. Police said the homicide unit is involved and that the death is being treated as suspicious.

One neighbour said there were six cruisers at the apartment Tuesday around 4:30 p.m. when the investigation began. The man, who did not want his name used, said there has been nothing but trouble surrounding the Madison for far too long.

“There are drug deals going in and out of there 24 hours a day,’’ he said.

According to resident William Striluck, the police cars remained until 9 p.m., when a stretcher was brought to the door of the apartment building.

“I went into my room, I didn’t want to see the rest,” he said, shutting his eyes to emphasize his point. Striluck doesn’t know if a body was brought out, but rumours are swirling around the apartment that the victim was the girlfriend of a resident.

Douglas Kelly said police knocked on his door around midnight on Tuesday to see if he had heard anything.

“The police knocked on my door, woke me up and asked me if I heard any strange noises,” said Kelly, who lives on the first floor directly below suite #218 where the incident is believed to have occured.

Another resident said a police officer was stationed outside that door, reading a magazine. The resident said he asked if “this is where it happened” and the police officer said “yes.”

Both Striluck nor Kelly heard anything suspicious, though, and said there definitely wasn’t a gunshot.

A police cruisier, a ghost car and two forensic identification vans remained parked outside the four-storey building Wednesday night. Residents gathered outside said police have yet to tell tenants what happened and are still very much in the dark.

The owner of Madison Lodge declined comment.

The Madison is run by a non-profit organization and houses over 80 people, mostly men, with mental and physical disabilities, as well as seniors. The building has a troubled past.

In June 2008, police swarmed the building and dismantled a meth lab on the third floor. Dwayne Dillon Birchwood, 27, was arrested and faced several drug related charges.

In March 2007, police shot and killed 61-year-old Ahmed Saleh-Azad, who refused to drop his weapon after fatally stabbing fellow resident Alexander Kolesnyk, 57, and seriously wounding another inside the Wolseley care home.