Judge denies bail for girl, 15, co-accused with boyfriend in 'vicious' Winnipeg homicide

Warning: The following story contains graphic details.

A 15-year-old girl from Stonewall, Man., accused of a premeditated robbery and attack with her boyfriend late last month that turned fatal, will remain behind bars for now.

The teen and her boyfriend, 17, from Warren, Man., stand accused of luring Paul Enns, 43, to a vacant parking lot in Assiniboine Park late in the evening of Feb. 25, where they allegedly fatally attacked and robbed him.

On Tuesday, provincial court Judge Lindy Choy denied a bail request sought by the girl's lawyer, David Wolfe Walker, saying the evidence against her appears strong.

The co-accused is scheduled to have a bail hearing in early April.

The decision to deny pre-trial bail to a youth is considered rare, but Choy sided with Crown attorneys John Hamm and Jodi Koffman in keeping the teen detained at the Manitoba Youth Centre correctional facility.

"I find there are exceptional circumstances," the judge said in court on Tuesday. "The nature of the assault and its ferocity is one which the public would find so shocking as to demand continued detention."

The identities of the girl and her boyfriend are protected under a publication ban. They have both been charged with second-degree murder and robbery. 

The Crown contends they stabbed Enns multiple times, beat him with weapons and left him for dead.

"This was torturous," Hamm said Monday. "The type and seriousness of the injuries evidence a brutal, vicious and prolonged attack."

Assiniboine Park security located Enns dead in the back seat of his vehicle early in the morning of Feb. 26 and reported it to police.

On Monday, Crown attorneys presented witness testimony, cellphone and other evidence they say tie the pair to the murder and support trying the girl as an adult.

Lured victim to parking lot: Crown

A witness interviewed by police said the boyfriend had robbed Enns before. The Crown confirmed Enns had filed a police report about a past robbery.

In the lead up the fatal attack, Hamm said the girl created a fake Instagram account she used to engage with Enns. Analysis of her phone showed her "actively engaging the victim 106 times" the night of the homicide, court heard.

She and Enns agreed to meet at the park, Hamm said, with the expectation that she would provide sex in exchange for money, drugs and jewellery. 

Once there, the girl is accused of stabbing Enns, while her boyfriend joined in by beating him repeatedly with a bat, Hamm said.

Court heard the there was blood spatter throughout the vehicle and on the ground outside. An autopsy showed several puncture wounds, including to Enns's leg and head, as well as bruising and other injuries all over his body.

The pair left the scene with Enns's cellphone, car keys and wallet, which contained his licence, vaccination card, cash, credit and debit cards, Hamm said.

Police arrested the girl on March 1, her co-accused three days later.

Cellphone tower analysis of the girl's phone put her first at the crime scene that night, then showed she travelled home, Hamm said.

A search of the boy's vehicle and home turned up a screwdriver, knife, mallet and baseball bat. Hamm said. Officers also found clothes belonging to the pair that appeared to have blood on them, though lab results are pending. Police also found signs of blood in the boy's vehicle, court heard.

Witnesses say pair did it

The investigation continues, but police have already interviewed at least three witnesses who say the pair shared details of what happened. All of them are in the same age range of the co-accused and claimed to know both of the accused.

Combined, their police testimonies suggest the pair not only mentioned beating up a man after the fact, but bragged about it, Hamm said.

One witness said the boy had tried to recruit him to take part.

That witness's testimony included an account of a video chat he had with the boy the day after the attack. Another witness was in the room for that call, unbeknownst to the accused, and corroborated what the first witness told police, according to Hamm.

During that call, the boy claimed his girlfriend instigated the attack. He also allegedly told the witness that they used a baseball bat and knife.

Another witness told police she met up with the pair in the early hours of Feb. 26, hours after the homicide. She said the boy showed her car keys he took from the man. She also says she saw a licence and vaccination card with Enns's name and saw the boy throw them out of his vehicle in a Stonewall parking lot.

Enns's phone hasn't been recovered, but the licence and vaccination card were discovered in the Stonewall parking lot where the witness claimed to have seen them discarded, court heard.

The pair also allegedly used Enns's credit card to purchase shoes for the girl and a jacket for the boy at Polo Park the following day, according to the Crown.

Bail plan not strong: judge

The Crown raised safety concerns about the girl being released, but mainly argued she shouldn't be granted bail on the grounds that it would hurt public confidence in the justice system. 

The girl's defence lawyer disagreed. Walker suggested the high bar for denying a youth pre-trial bail had not been met.

"It's not applicable given that the victim was in the park on a frolic whereby he was exchanging drugs, etcetera, for sex from a 15-year-old," he said on Monday. "It's not the type of situation where the public would look at and say this is the absolute most horrendous type of situation."

Walker outlined a plan that would have allowed the girl, who he said had been diagnosed with anxiety, depression and ADHD, to remain at home under the supervision of her mother.

Choy said Walker's plan wasn't strong enough to justify bail, particularly without a forensic psychological evaluation. 

She also rejected his characterization of what happened to Enns that night.

"We can only speculate as to what lured the victim to that location," she said. "We also do not live in a society which condones vigilantism or allows two teenagers to assess the moral compass of its citizen and decide whether or not they should suffer a violent and painful death."