'You need serious help': Manitoban accused in string of murders had previous criminal record

Three years before Ryan Manoakeesick was charged in connection with allegedly killing five members of his family, he was warned by a Manitoba judge he was at risk of losing everything.

Three years before Ryan Manoakeesick was charged in connection with allegedly killing five members of his family, he was warned by a Manitoba judge he was at risk of losing everything.

“You need serious help,” provincial court Judge Kelly Moar said at a July 2019 court date.

“At the end of the day if you don’t do something, it’s going to cost you your family.”

Monday, RCMP charged Manoakeesick with five counts of first-degree murder in connection with a string of tragic deaths over the weekend.

RCMP say a 30-year-old woman, who was living common-law with the suspect, was found dead on Sunday along a Manitoba highway a few kilometres outside Carman, Man.

Hours later, police were called to a vehicle on fire on a provincial road near St. Eustache, Man. They say three children were pulled by the suspect from a burning vehicle, but were pronounced dead at the scene. A suspect was arrested.

A fifth victim, the family’s 17-year-old niece, was later found dead at a home in Carman.