DEADLY FIRE PART OF GANG WAR?

Police Believe House Targeted in Ongoing Battle Over Drug Trade

CITY police believe a deadly Mountain Avenue house fire early Tuesday
- -- a fire police allege was intentionally set -- was part of an
ongoing gang war over the drug trade in the city's North End.

But police stressed the 14-year-old boy killed in the blaze was not
the intended target and that the youth's own gang affiliation had
nothing to do with the fire.

"The house was the target," Const. Nick Paulet said. "The youth was
not."

A 27-year-old man and 16-year-old boy were arrested a short time after
the fire and have each been charged with second-degree murder. Both
are members of the Indian Posse.

The fire was set at about 1:30 a.m. in the home's front porch and
spread within minutes through most of the house.

Paulet said he could not comment on how the fire was started: by
someone throwing gas-filled bottles onto the porch or pouring a
flammable liquid and igniting it.

By sheer luck, two officers with the street crime unit were on patrol
down Mountain Avenue at the same time. Const. Thane Chartrand and
Const. Lindsay Cancilla saw two people running west from the house to
Salter Street as the front of the house went up in flames.

Rather than chasing the two people, the officers instead rescued 10
people inside the house from what could have been certain death or
serious injury.

An attempt was made to rescue Nathan Starr, who was trapped in an
upstairs room, but the smoke, heat and flames were too intense. Starr,
14, was later found and rushed to hospital where he died.

A wake will be held for Starr this Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Aboriginal
Funeral Chapel, Starr's mother, Kim Daniels, said. He will be buried
Monday at the Brookside Cemetery after a service at the chapel.

Starr was a member of the MOB street gang. MOB stands for Most
Organized Brothers, or Money Over B------.

Sgt. Darrin Kruger said that because Chartrand and Cancilla called in
the fire as soon as they did, 20 police cars flooded the area, cutting
off any escape routes. It also allowed a police tracking dog to get to
the scene quickly and, because of the new snow, pick up a scent almost
immediately. The fresh snow held the scent from dispersing, making it
easy for the dog to lead officers to a house a short distance away on
Aberdeen Avenue.

On Wednesday afternoon, three police cruisers were idling outside 343
Aberdeen Ave.

The one-and--a-half storey home was in a row of four houses with
graffiti reading "Indian Posse" and "North Side" scrawled at least 11
times along doors, fences, building walls and garage doors nearby.

"There's no justice for us," said one middle-aged neighbour, who said
Aberdeen residents were afraid to speak out to the family who lived at
343 about the graffiti with which their walls were repeatedly covered.

"Something could come through our window tomorrow."

The house was known for drug trafficking, they said.

Police also said the house at 400 Mountain Ave. was targeted because
it was connected to a rival gang and was competing for drug sales.

But Roger Roesler, who lived with his wife, Debbie McKelvey, their
children and extended family at the Mountain Avenue address, said
Wednesday that's wrong.

Roesler told the Free Press he was arrested almost two years ago for
selling crack cocaine and got a conditional sentence.

He said he has not sold drugs since then.

"After the cops came, I stopped," he said. "I have no idea who the
hell it is who set the fire."

Riel Mitchell, 27, and the 16-year-old boy remain in custody. The boy,
who stands about six feet tall and weighs almost 200 pounds, made a
brief appearance Wednesday at the Manitoba Youth Centre. He has gang
tattoos on both hands.

His lawyer, Darren Sawchuk, said it's possible he will apply for bail
in the coming weeks.

Provincial court Judge Sid Lerner told the boy that if convicted, he
could be sentenced as a adult. The boy nodded he understood.

Mitchell was on probation at the time of his arrest.