(file photo)

By Susan McNeil

Conviction upheld

Appeal court upholds murder conviction in killing of Roger Standingwater

Sep 10, 2024 | 11:47 AM

The man convicted of the second-degree murder of Roger Standingwater has lost his effort to have his conviction overturned by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.

Ivor Wapass was convicted following a jury trial in Battleford in 2020 but he appealed and asked for a new trial.

He said that the verdict was inherently unreasonable and that the judge’s instructions to the jury failed in two areas; first regarding the presumption of innocence and second in the instructions on circumstantial evidence.

If the Court of Appeal did not order a new trial, Wapass’ legal team asked that they instead substitute a conviction for manslaughter.

In the chain of events leading to the death of Standingwater on Sept. 14, 2018, police were first called to House 92 on the Thunderchild First Nation at about 11:30 pm.

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The occupants wanted Wapass to leave the home.

“The officer had a brief discussion with Mr. Wapass and handed him a pair of tan-beige size 11 Nike Air shoes which Mr. Wapass put on before leaving the home of his own volition and without further police involvement,” said the judgement.

Officers left that house and were called right away to a disturbance at House 194, which is near House 92.

A group was there drinking, partying and playing with the occupant’s cat but said the party was over and they were going to sleep. Ivor Wapass came to the house after the police left.

Later, Ivor’s half-brother Corey, who had been among the group partying, was woken by a stomping sound.

“He looked up and saw Mr. Wapass standing next to the cat and Mr. Standingwater, whose face was bloody. The cat was twitching as though it had been crushed and Mr. Standingwater also appeared to be in distress,” reads the Appeal Court decision.

Corey checked on Standingwater, who was barely breathing and looked like he was choking so he got a neighbour who called 911. The two men began CPR, which Wapass later joined in to help with. Unfortunately, Standingwater was not able to be saved by them or EMS. The cat also died.

Evidence gathered at the scene showed a bloody size 11 shoe print, the same size as the Nike Air’s belonging to Wapass. He was the only person there that wore that size of shoe.

The pathologist found that Standingwater was killed by blunt force trauma and that he had been struck multiple times. Acute alcohol intoxication was also a contributing factor.

No one actually saw Wapass strike Standingwater and the evidence was considered circumstantial.

Wapass argued that his conviction was not supported by the evidence and no motive had been established.

He also said that the prosecution had not shown he intended to kill Standingwater or that he meant to cause bodily harm that was likely to end in death or ignored that it was a real possibility.

The appeal judges disagreed, instead saying it was reasonable for the jury to have concluded that Wapass had struck Standingwater and had done so repeatedly along with the fact that the strikes were to the victim’s head and did actually cause his death.

“It is not the function of this Court to act as a “13th juror”; our function is to determine if there is evidence reasonably capable of supporting the verdict rendered or whether the jury’s finding conflicts with the bulk of judicial experience,” wrote Justice J.A. Bardai.

The two other judges concurred and the appeal was denied.

Wapass is serving a life in prison with his earliest parole eligibility coming after 15 years.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com