Dylan Pountney was found guilty of second-degree murder in the students’ slayings

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A young man charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a classmate at a Leduc high school has been found guilty of a lesser charge.

Court of King’s Bench Judge Eric Macklin on Friday convicted Dylan Pountney of second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Jennifer Winkler, finding that while Pountney was able to form intent to kill, there was insufficient evidence to show that he planned the killing ahead of time.

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“One can intend to kill, but be impulsive about it,” Macklin said.

Several people cursed and stormed out of the Wetaskiwin courtroom after Macklin delivered his verdict.

Winkler’s father, Dale, was frustrated by the decision but took solace in the fact that Pountney, 22, will face jail time.

“Someone as sweet and innocent as her, to do this to her…” he said in an interview. “She was my little girl. He was a great kid.”

Crime

Winkler’s murder on March 15, 2021 stunned the Leduc community. Pountney — whose late mother once had a relationship with Winkler’s father — stabbed the girl five times with a butcher knife during a break from her social studies class at Christ the King High School, a tight-knit Catholic from the small town south of Edmonton.

Pountney called his grandmother on the morning of the murder to ask for a ride to school. She didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary and noted that he told her he would talk to her later. Later that morning, Pountney contributed to a discussion about genocide, which stood out to the teacher because he rarely spoke in class.

Class adjourned around 9:54. Pountney left to use the restroom. When he returned, he stopped in the hallway and was seen on security camera reaching down his pants and putting on a pair of gloves.

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Pountney entered the classroom and attacked Winkler from behind as she sat at her desk. Students who witnessed the attack said he shouted “answer” or “answer me” before repeatedly stabbing her in the upper left shoulder. Then he ran, throwing the knife on the floor. The entire attack lasted nine seconds.

Winkler staggered toward the door and collapsed. She was airlifted to hospital after a paramedic realized she had lost nearly half her blood. She died later that morning.

Pountney was arrested a short time later hiding under a deck in a neighborhood near the school. He gave a bizarre and lengthy statement to the RCMP, in which he claimed to have been possessed by a “Satan-type thing”. He also claimed he was influenced by a “blood cult” on YouTube.

At other times, however, Pountney was lucid, telling investigators he understood his actions and knew they were wrong.

“He was just an innocent little kid,” he said. “It’s clear to me that I regret what I did, but I felt I had to do it.”

The trial

Pountney’s trial began on July 15. Crown prosecutor Jeff Rudiak argued that Pountney’s actions were planned and deliberate and that he should be found guilty of first-degree murder.

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Derek Anderson, the defense attorney, said there was insufficient evidence to prove Pountney intended his actions — the hurdle that must be cleared for a second-degree murder conviction. He asked the court to convict his client of manslaughter.

The trial’s key witness was Marc Nesca, a forensic clinical psychologist who interviewed Pountney in prison in 2023.

Nesca was retained by the defense to conduct a non-criminally responsible assessment (NCR). While Nesca concluded that Pountney did not meet the criteria to be considered NCR, he found that Pountney was experiencing a psychotic episode at the time of his police interview.

Pountney made several delusional remarks, Nesca said, including that his teachers were Hells Angels and that he had a tumor on the back of his head. He also talked about taking hostages to force the government to give him free dental treatment and expressed his willingness to set fire to $100,000 in cash.

Pountney was clear, however, that he understood his legal jeopardy and that he was not to speak to detectives. He told them he first thought of hurting Winkler days before to “get back at” Winkler’s father for what the court described as “perceived wrongdoing” against his mother.

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Nesca found evidence that Pountney was fabricating or exaggerating symptoms at the time of their 2023 interview, but claimed he was psychotic on the day of the murder.

verdict

There was no dispute that Pountney killed Winkler. The issue was whether the Crown proved that Pountney intended to kill her and that his actions were planned and deliberate.

On the first count, Macklin said he had no doubt about Pountney’s criminal intent.

“Mr. Pountney admitted to his actions in killing Ms. Winkler. He said he wanted to cause her pain and that he understood the consequences of his actions…and that he was going to prison.” Although he accepted that Pountney was suffering from psychosis, those admissions were “untainted by mental illness”.

Macklin found no evidence, however, establishing beyond a reasonable doubt that Pountney planned and deliberated before the killing.

He said merely thinking about harming someone does not meet the legal definition of a plan — which requires evidence that someone carefully thought out a crime, rather than acting recklessly or impulsively.

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There was “simply no evidence” of planning a crime, Macklin said. The decision to bring a knife from home could have been to injure someone or, as Pountney suggested, to take hostages.

“There is nothing to suggest that he weighed the nature and consequences of his actions before stabbing Ms. Winkler,” Mackin said. This uncertainty was “compounded by the fact that Mr Pountney had a mental disorder and suffered from psychosis”.

Pountney’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 5. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole for 10-25 years.

Dale Winkler said he will remember Jenny as a tough but loving child with an artistic flair. He raised her mostly on his own with his three sons.

“I always say, if (Pountney) had come at her … from the front, he probably would have cleaned her watch,” he said. “She was so tough.”

The family plans to hold a memorial barbecue for friends and family before the sentencing. They also hope to release a book of her art in her memory.

“She was everybody’s world,” he said. “She was the rock that held all her friends together.”

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