ManitobaA man who pleaded guilty to attempted murder in a case where a woman was brutally beaten, stuffed into a duffel bag and abandoned in a dumpster on a freezing night in Winnipeg has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.Judge says it was ‘sheer luck’ that victim survived December 2023 attackCaitlyn Gowriluk · CBC News · Posted: Oct 09, 2025 7:46 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoJoey Michael Audy stared down at the floor as he was handed a lengthy prison sentence for attempted murder and robbery on Thursday in Winnipeg. (Winnipeg Police Service)A man who pleaded guilty to attempted murder in a case where a woman was brutally beaten, stuffed into a duffel bag and abandoned in a dumpster on a freezing night in Winnipeg has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.Joey Audy stared down at the floor from where he sat in the prisoner’s box as provincial court Judge Rachel Rusen read her decision in a Winnipeg courtroom Thursday, calling the circumstances of the December 2023 attack on the woman “a stark horror.”“The fact that [the victim] survived is by sheer luck,” Rusen said. “Mr. Audy intended to kill [her].”The woman, who sat in the front row of the courtroom for the sentencing decision, previously said in a victim impact statement she still lives with reminders of the attack — from how she can’t stand the sound of duct tape being unwrapped, to the scar on her lower lip from being kicked in the face by a man she’d never met before.”I wish you had killed me so I don’t have to keep living like this anymore — so I can put the pain away,” she read from a victim impact statement in June.”You made my life … unbearable to even keep living for. Since this incident, I have struggled with many things. But I know I’m strong and I can get through this.”‘I wish you had killed me,’ woman tells attacker in court after being abandoned in Winnipeg dumpsterMan wanted in assault of forcibly confined woman in Winnipeg turns himself inCourt previously heard that while several people were involved in the attack — where the woman was held hostage for hours before being “buried alive and left to die” in the dumpster — it was Audy who was ultimately behind the assault on the vulnerable Indigenous woman, who court heard is only four feet, 11 inches tall and lives with global developmental delay.In addition to attempted murder, Audy was also sentenced to the equivalent of two years for robbery in a separate incident. Prosecutors had asked for a total sentence of 20 years on the charges, with Crown attorney Courtney St. Croix previously noting that if it hadn’t been for Audy’s guilty plea and Gladue factors related to his own life as an Indigenous person, they would likely be recommending a life sentence.Defence lawyer Mike Cook had asked for a total sentence of 10 years, saying Audy’s childhood was marked by isolation, abuse and child welfare system involvement. He said Audy has been diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, and was born in drug withdrawal because of his mother’s addictions.”I cannot conceive of a more difficult start to one’s life,” Cook said during sentencing arguments in June. “Joey Audy deserves to be sent to prison, but not crushed by the length of his prison term.”Judge Rusen said in her decision Thursday that while she agrees that factors in Audy’s life are “highly sympathetic and tragic,” she said “devastating personal circumstances like Mr. Audy’s are, unfortunately, not unique to the criminal justice system.”“This must be balanced with the need to protect the public, particularly [the victim], as well as separating Mr. Audy from society.”Rusen sentenced Audy to his one-day court appearance for the robbery, noting his equivalent of two years time in custody on that charge. While she initially said in her decision a sentence equivalent to 18 years was appropriate for the attempted murder charge, she reduced that sentence to 16 when considering totality — a Criminal Code principle applied to consecutive sentences that means the total length of time served “should not be unduly long or harsh.”What happened that nightThe events that led to the woman’s assault were set in motion around 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 9, 2023. As the then 26-year-old victim was waiting for a bus, she was approached by a man who told her, “You’re coming with me,” before grabbing and leading her onto a bus, according to a statement of agreed facts previously provided to court.He took her to an apartment on Carlton Street in downtown Winnipeg, where five people the woman didn’t know were inside: Audy, co-accused Romeo Miles and Evelyn McKay, and Lorde Barrios and Misty Bird, who lived in the suite.Barrios and Bird were initially charged in connection with the assault, but later had their charges stayed.Both Audy and Miles were members of the Savage Bloods street gang, and had come to the suite to recruit Barrios, the court document said.When the victim got to the apartment, she went to the washroom — at which point the man she came with was told to leave. When she came back out, Audy asked who brought her there and she mistakenly pointed to Barrios, the document said.When Barrios denied knowing her, Audy accused the victim of being a “narc” or a “rat” and told McKay to search her for wires. He told the woman to put her jacket and backpack in the middle of the room, then punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground. He continued to punch and kick her until her nose bled.Woman arrested in confinement, attempted murder incident at Winnipeg apartmentWinnipeg police arrest 1 of 3 people wanted in assault of woman confined for hours, left in dumpsterAudy told McKay and Bird to tie the victim up and cover her mouth with duct tape. She was then put underneath a bed, where the woman said she believes she lost consciousness. Audy and Miles left with the woman’s things, including her cellphone, jacket and diabetes medications, and Audy said he’d be back to “collect” the woman.She was left tied up until around 8 p.m., when Barrios and Bird took her out of the apartment with them, because they wanted to play VLTs. Barrios gave her $5 to play, the document said. They went back to the suite around 8:40 p.m., and Audy finally returned shortly after. Sometime after midnight, Audy told McKay to tie the victim up again. She was tied up, assaulted and blindfolded, before being zipped into a small hockey bag, which Audy then took downstairs and threw into a dumpster.It wasn’t until almost a full hour later that Bird and Barrios rescued the woman, bringing her back to the suite to shower and giving her food, clothes and her diabetes medication. The next day, Bird helped get the victim on a bus, where she went directly to the Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg with injuries including a broken nose.McKay previously pleaded guilty to forcible confinement and was sentenced to 39 months, while Miles got 18 months after pleading guilty to robbery.Another woman, who got zip ties and rope to restrain the victim, was also previously sentenced to a year after pleading guilty to forcible confinement.ABOUT THE AUTHORCaitlyn Gowriluk has been writing for CBC Manitoba since 2019. Her work has also appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, and in 2021 she was part of an award-winning team recognized by the Radio Television Digital News Association for its breaking news coverage of COVID-19 vaccines. Get in touch with her at caitlyn.gowriluk@cbc.ca.Follow Caitlyn Gowriluk on X
Man who abandoned woman in Winnipeg dumpster sentenced to 16 years for attempted murder
