Ethan Gage Shaydon Powderhorn charged in the suspicious Winnipeg apartment fire that took the lives of Roger Glen Doblej and Suzanne Helen McCooeye, and injured three others on Christmas Day

The 2022 Winnipeg Homicide Victim List is available here
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WFPS responded to reports of a fire in a six-storey apartment building in the 300 block of Qu’Appelle Avenue on December 25th at 4:08am. When they arrived they found heavy smoke and flames coming from the building and a second alarm was called which increased the number of crews on scene.

Firefighters ended up fighting the fire from inside the building while searching suites and evacuating residents. Six people were rushed to hospital: three in critical condition, one in unstable condition, and two in stable condition.

Two of the victims Roger Glen Doblej, a 63-year-old male of Winnipeg, and Suzanne Helen McCooeye, a 70-year-old female of Winnipeg died of their injuries. The other victims are three males and one female between the ages of 47 and 79, one is in unstable condition, and the other two are listed as stable.

WPS announced on January 3rd that Ethan Gage Shaydon Powderhorn, 26, of Winnipeg, has been arrested and charged with:

  • Second Degree Murder (x2)
  • Arson with Disregard for Human Life (x4)
  • Arson Causing Damage to Property

Police believe he was also responsible for two other fires. One minor fire on December 25th at approximately 12:19 a.m., it was put out by a single Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) crew using a pail of water and a pump can. The other, a garbage bin fire on December 10, 2022, at approximately 12:04 p.m. in the 300 block of Kennedy Street. The WFPS extinguished the fire.