THUNDER BAY - A man facing a murder charge for his alleged role in the 2014 death of William Wapoose has pleaded guilty to breaching a condition of his release order after being found intoxicated while caring for a one-month old child.
Jonathan Massicotte appeared via video before Justice Elaine Burton in a Thunder Bay Courtroom on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a release order.
Massicotte was charged with first-degree murder and uttering threats in May 2019 in connection to the death of Wapoose, whose body was found in the Chapples Drive area in September 2014.
Police made numerous pleas to the public seeking information on the murder, including offering a $50,000 award. A 22-year-old man was also charged with first-degree murder in May 2019 but cannot be named because he was a youth at the time of the alleged offence.
The charge against Massicotte has since been reduced to second-degree murder and the charge of uttering threats has been withdrawn. Massicotte was released on bail in June 2020, which included a condition not to purchase, possess, or consume alcohol.
The court heard that on the afternoon of Sept. 25, 2021 the Thunder Bay Police received a call from a member of public advising on of an intoxicated man with a baby stroller in the area of an Oliver Road restaurant.
Police located the man and identified him as Massicotte. He was observed to be intoxicated and his one-month old child was in the stroller. The mother of the child was also located and found to be intoxicated.
Massicotte has been in custody since his arrest on Sept. 25 and a joint submission was presented by defense counsel George Joseph and the Crown asking for a 30-day sentence, with the recommendation to consider 20-days pre-sentence custody enhanced at a rate of 1.5-to-one.
Joseph informed Justice Burton that a Superior Court release has already been effected for Massicotte on Tuesday and he will be released from custody to reside with a surety.
Although the joint submission was accepted, Justice Burton said she felt the 30-day sentence was on the light side given Massicotte was on bail for a serious offence. A further aggravating circumstance was his intoxicated state at the time of his breach while being with a newborn, which Justice Burton said put the child at risk.
“You might think release orders are a joke but they are not a joke,” Justice Burton told Massicotte. “You were on bail for the most serious kind of offence there is, and you blew it off.”
Massicotte is expected to stand trial on the charge of second-degree murder for his alleged role in the death of Wapoose in January 2022.
