Man, 43, charged with manslaughter after man found critically injured in back lane last fall

The death of a man who was found critically injured in the back lane of a West End street last fall has been deemed a homicide, Winnipeg police say. 

Officers found the injured man in the lane behind Lipton Street, between Sargent and Ellice avenues, around 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2023, and he later died from his injuries.

At the time, police wouldn’t call the death a homicide, and labelled it as suspicious while the homicide unit investigated. 

In a news release Wednesday, police identified the man as 56-year-old Robert Wayne Billings. The release said police also identified a suspect in his death.

On Tuesday, police executed an arrest warrant for Christopher Michael Gatehouse, according to the release. He was arrested at a home on St. Paul Avenue. 

Gatehouse, 43, has been charged with manslaughter in connection with Billings’ death and has been detained in custody, the release said. Police said he and Billings did not know each other.