Murder charge laid in hotel beating death

A 31-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Edward John Denetchezhe, whose body was found in a downtown Winnipeg hotel this week.

Paul Clemence Cawson was arrested and charged after an autopsy on Denetchezhe identified the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the upper body.

An arrest warrant was also issued for a second suspect, Oliver Newton John McCallum, 29, who was being sought for second-degree murder, police said.

Const. Jason Michalyshen said Thursday McCallum had been arrested by uniformed patrol officers. He could not say where the arrest was made.

Denetchezhe, 60, was discovered dead on Monday in a fourth-floor suite of the St. Regis Hotel, at 285 Smith St.

The death was initially deemed as suspicious, but on Wednesday, police upgraded it to a homicide, the city's 23rd of 2009.

On Thursday, police released more details of what they believe led to Denetchezhe's death. They said that sometime on Oct. 1, three men were socializing in a suite of the hotel.

During the early morning hours, two of the males became involved in a dispute with Denetchezhe. The argument escalated to the point where Denetchezhe was assaulted by the other two men, sustaining serious injuries to his upper body.

The suspects subsequently fled, leaving Denetchezhe to die from his injuries, police said.

It wasn't until Oct. 5 that Denetchezhe's body was found and the police were notified.