Winnipeg Police confirm they paid confessed killer Shawn Lamb $1500 to talk, move that’s come under fire since being revealed at Lamb’s sentencing Thursday.
Superintendent Danny Smyth said Lamb told police in early 2012 he knew where several bodies were, but then refused to say any more.
Lamb had been arrested for an unrelated sexual assault.
So police paid Lamb $600 to his canteen fund at the Remand Centre to talk. He did. Lamb lead police to Lorna Blacksmith’s body in a backyard on Simcoe Street.
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Then Lamb told police he had more information but wanted more money. Another $600 was deposited into his canteen fund. But no worthwhile information came from that second interview.
Police then paid $300 for a third interview. In those interviews, Lamb confessed to killing Blacksmith and 25-year old Caroline Sinclair.
“We would have never known he was involved in these women’s murders otherwise,” said Smyth.
Before payments were paid, investigators consulted with the Crowns office.
But these videotaped interviews could have been thrown out of court and the case dismissed, seeing Lamb walk free because his lawyers would have argued Lamb was enticed to confess with money.
But police thought if Lamb lead officers to crime scenes, they’d get enough evidence that if the confessions were dismissed they’d have enough proof he committed the crimes.
There was no evidence and no witnesses.
Despite this, Lamb took a true plea bargain and pleaded guilty to manslaughter Thursday instead of second degree murder in the deaths.
A third woman, Tanya Nepinak’s body has never been found. Lamb’s charged in her homicide and that remains before the courts.
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