'You feel for the family': Man allegedly stabs father to death, goes to police HQ to confess

A 31-year-old man has been arrested after confessing to stabbing an older male relative to death on Friday.

Milles Anthony Ramirez has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Reynaldo Ramirez, 54, police spokesperson Const. Jay Murray said at a news conference on Sunday morning.

Police sources tell CBC News that the accused and victim are father and son.

Murray said around 4:20 p.m. on Dec. 27, Milles Ramirez went to the downtown police headquarters and told officers he had killed a family member at their home on Highwater Path. Soon after that, someone in the house called police to report an injured man, he said.

When emergency services responded, they found Reynaldo Ramirez dead with stab wounds. Milles Ramirez was detained in police custody after his confession was corroborated, Murray said.

These allegations have not yet been proven in court.

Murray would not say how the accused made his way to police HQ, but acknowledged police were looking for video surveillance from taxis in the area that day.

"A common way that people move about is through taxi, and that would form part of the investigation," he said.

"Quite often in homicide investigations, investigators look at what happens before, during and after a homicide. Did the suspect make any admission in a cab? Is there anything that they can glean from watching video surveillance from inside that cab?"

Bon Bacani who lives a few doors down from the home where the slaying happened, told CBC Saturday a police officer came to his door around 7:30 p.m. Friday asking to look at his doorbell surveillance camera in search of taxis that were driving by. No cabs were spotted on the camera, he said.

Motive still unclear: police

Despite Ramirez's confession to police, Murray said, investigators still have no motive for the killing, and are continuing their investigation.

"Investigators have a pretty good idea of what happened in the residence, but they don't necessarily have a great idea of why it happened," he said. "There's a lot of questions that still have to be answered in this investigation."

Murray said it's uncommon for someone to turn themselves in at police headquarters shortly after committing a crime.

"It's certainly very rare, and I think a surprise for the officers that were working," he said.

Murray said he was told Ramirez was "relatively calm" when confessing.

He said investigators don't believe alcohol or drugs were involved in the attack, and that neither the accused nor the victim are known to police. Murray also said police have located a suspected murder weapon.

"It's an unfortunate incident," he said. "You feel for the family who has lost at least one family member, and depending how you look at it, likely a second member too."

The death marks Winnipeg's 44th homicide of the year, surpassing the previous record of 41 homicides in 2011. Murray said officers across departments have taken on increased workloads as a result.

"It's been a challenging year," said Murray.