Family members and friends of Stony Stanley Bushie, one of two homicide victims found in downtown Winnipeg over the weekend, say he was a happy guy who wouldn’t hurt anyone.
The 48-year-old man’s body was found in an alley behind 333 Portage Ave. — outside the headquarters of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network — on Saturday evening.
Bushie was from Little Grand Rapids, a remote First Nation community about 270 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
One of his nieces, Amanda Martin, told CBC News the family had not heard from Bushie since mid-March, when he travelled to Winnipeg for a medical appointment, and they were worried about his safety.
“We were really shocked. Like, he was a harmless guy, and he had a family out here that loved him and cared for him,” Martin said Monday.
Winnipeg police cordon off part of the city’s downtown over the weekend as they investigate two homicides in the area. (CBC)
“I was like, ‘Oh my goodness … how could this happen?’ Oh, man. He was nice. He would do anything for anybody.”
The body of another man, 65-year-old Donald Collins, was found earlier on Saturday in an alley behind 329 Hargrave St.
Police have described both homicides as “brutal killings,” and investigators believe the men were likely slain by the same person.
One of the victims was homeless, while the other was known to have spent time on the streets, according to police, who issued a warning for the city’s homeless people to be cautious.
Martin said she believes Bushie had been staying at a First Nations boarding home in Winnipeg.
She added that officers found no identification on her uncle, so they had to use his fingerprints to identify him.
Police have released surveillance images of a man they believe was in the area where the homicides took place. They have referred to him as a person of interest, but refrained from calling him a suspect.
CBC News has confirmed that the man was located late Monday. Police have not released any details.
‘He was a good man,’ says chief
Martin Owens, chief of the Little Grand Rapids First Nation, said he last saw Bushie — a childhood friend — at a First Nations bank in downtown Winnipeg on Thursday afternoon.
“He was joking around like he always does. Like, I grew up with him,” Owens said.
Henry Owens, one of Stony Bushie’s friends, says they attended school and went camping together when they were growing up in Little Grand Rapids, Man. (Lindsay Tsuji/CBC)
“He was happy to see me and I was happy to see him, and I told him, ‘Whenever you want to go home, just give me a call.'”
Owens said Bushie had struggled with addiction before, but he appeared to be clean when they last spoke.
“I don’t think Stony would ever start a fight with anybody,” he said.
“He wasn’t like that. He was a good man.”
Henry Owens, another longtime friend of Bushie’s from Little Grand Rapids, also said he saw him days before the homicide.
“A friend called me that morning [Sunday] and was asking if I heard anything. I said no. That’s when he told me about it. Meanwhile, I was talking to him [Stony] a couple of days ago before this incident happened. I said hello to him when I saw him on the street,” Owens said.
“He was a friendly guy, got along with a lot of people, laugh around with people. That’s what I liked about him so much. I’m going to miss him.”
