DRUG DEBT LEADS TO MAN'S DEATH; HOMELESS MAN CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER

A drug debt led to Sunday's fatal stabbing of a 42-year-old Vancouver
man in the Downtown Eastside, police say.

A 41-year-old Vancouver man was arrested four blocks away at Main and
Hastings streets. He faces a second-degree murder charge.

"This is certainly nothing that's surprising, the level of violence
associated with drugs," said Vancouver police Const. Howard Chow.

"You have a lot of very desperate people, very desperate addicts that
are out there, and very often they do what they can to get their next
fix."

Meanwhile, a 21-year-old homeless man was arrested and charged with
manslaughter after he allegedly stabbed another homeless man to death
last Thursday.

Two men had an altercation in the 900-block Evans Avenue near Terminal
Avenue, police said.

Clifford Lewis Johnson, 41, was stabbed and underwent surgery at
Vancouver General Hospital, but died Friday evening.

Johnathon Michael Plante, 21, was arrested Saturday in the 700-block
Thurlow Street.