Man convicted in fatal burglary, arson on Pritchard Avenue

A Winnipeg man who stabbed another man to death during a botched burglary and then set his body on fire has been convicted of second-degree murder.

Romeo Ryle, 21, maintained a sombre expression upon hearing the jury's verdict Tuesday afternoon. Jurors deliberated for less than three hours before reaching their verdict.

Ryle will be sentenced at a later date.

The minimum sentence for second-degree murder is life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.

Justin Chezick, 42, was found dead inside his fire-damaged Pritchard Avenue home on July 20, 2015.

• Charges laid in Pritchard Avenue fire, death of Justin Chezick

At trial, jurors were shown video of a police interview in which Ryle confessed he broke into Chezick's home looking for electronics he could sell for rent money. 

Ryle armed himself with a knife he found inside the home. He came across Chezick in a bedroom and stabbed him 38 times. Security video captured Ryle transporting a television and other stolen items from the home in a shopping cart. 

Ryle later returned to Chezick's home and set fire to a blanket covering Chezick's body.

When Ryle returned to his own home, he confessed what he had done to his mother and brother. At his mother's prodding, Ryle turned himself in to police a week later. 

Ryle argued at trial he was intoxicated by alcohol and Xanax at the time of the killing and should be found guilty only of manslaughter.

"Alcohol and pills … affected his ability to appreciate the consequences of his actions when he stabbed Mr. Chezick," defence lawyer Ryan Amy argued in a closing address to jurors Monday.

"He didn't react as a sober person would.… He did not give any thought to the probable consequences of the stab wounds."  

Prosecutor Melissa Serbin dismissed Ryle's claim of intoxication as "nothing more than an attempt to minimize a brutal attack.

"He knew exactly what he was doing that night," Serbin said.