ManitobaThe trial of a man accused of killing a Winnipeg restaurant owner last year began Monday with surveillance footage played in court showing the altercation that led to his death in the parking lot of his St. James business.Kyriakos Vogiatzakis, 51, died after altercation with Curtis Dalebozik in front of Cork & Flame in 2024Bryce Hoye · CBC News · Posted: Nov 17, 2025 10:45 AM EST | Last Updated: 9 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Kyriakos Vogiatzakis, 51, died after a physical altercation in front of the restaurant he owned on Portage Avenue, the Cork & Flame, on Jan. 24, 2024. A trial began in Winnipeg on Monday involving the man accused of manslaughter in his death, Curtis Ross Dalebozik. (Kyriakos Vogiatzakis/Facebook)The trial of a man accused of killing a Winnipeg restaurant owner began Monday with surveillance footage showing the altercation that led to his death in the parking lot of his St. James business last year.Kyriakos Vogiatzakis, 51, died after a confrontation with Curtis Ross Dalebozik outside the Cork & Flame on Portage Avenue on Jan. 24, 2024.“A central piece of evidence in this trial is video surveillance footage capturing the entire incident,” Crown attorney Krista Berkis told Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond.“The Crown will submit that after the accused gained the upper hand, he continued to use force that was unreasonable and no longer defensive in nature.”Dalebozik, then-38, was charged with manslaughter and uttering threats. He has pleaded not guilty.Security camera video was played in court showed Vogiatzakis confronting Dalebozik before a fight ensued and the pair ended up on the ground.Prosecutors James Wood and Berkis argue Dalebozik used excessive force once gaining the upper hand in the altercation.Various police and emergency responders testified Monday about the day Vogiatkasis died last year after an assault in the parking lot of his restaurant.Prosecutor Wood said at trial that court will hear from a pathologist, who is expected to explain how Vogiatzakis died from multiple blunt force trauma, asphyxia and the “physiological stress of the altercation.”Vogiatkasis pulled into the parking lot of Cork & Flame, parked, got out and got into a confrontation with a man in the parking lot, according to video played in court.Justice Bond refused to release video surveillance footage of the fight to media on Tuesday, citing concerns over the dignity of the victim and the possibility a release could taint the judge-only trial.Kyriakos Vogiatzakis’s brother Mike Vogiatzakis speaks to reporters outside of the Winnipeg law courts on Monday at the beginning of the Dalebozik’s trial. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)That video showed the altercation escalate from verbal to physical. Const. Stephen Spencer provided his interpretation of what happened. Spencer testified that at one point Dalebozik could be seen “attempting to back away as Vogiatzakis continues assaulting Dalebozik, grabbing him by the hoodie and hair, and punching at his face and head.”He told defence lawyers Steven Brennan and Chris Gamby that the video showed Vogiatzakis feed Dalebozik several blows before Dalebozik was able to grab Vogiatzakis and pull him to the ground.”Dalebozik is holding him down, I guess you could say, with his chest and bodyweight … and starts to deliver several mean strikes to Vogiatzakis’s head or torso … while holding him to the ground, and then appears to put him in a headlock, after those strikes,” Spencer said.Thirty seconds after that headlock, Spencer said Vogiatzakis’s flailing arms and legs stop. Dalebozik then got up and kicked Vogiatzakis, Spencer added after the video was played in court.Police, first responders testifyWinnipeg police Const. Colin Pratte and his partner responded to the scene on Jan. 24, 2024, after reports of a fight in progress.He testified that when he arrived, there was a group of people gathered around and a woman was performing chest compressions on Vogiatzakis.Pratte said Vogiatzakis had a “greyish colour” to his skin, no pulse and wasn’t breathing when he took over chest compressions.Firefighter-paramedics got involved soon after and transported Vogiatzakis to hospital in critical condition, Pratte said.Michael Ogilvie, primary care paramedic and firefighter with Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, said Vogiatzakis had “blown pupils,” which he said can be associated with head or spinal trauma, or lack of oxygen to the brain.He said there was no pulse and “no shockable rhythm” or electrical activity during an electrocardiogram.”I know this is a very devastating incident … but the way that this played out in terms of start to finish for our side of things is very routine,” said Ogilvie. “There are some very complicated calls … this one is very straightforward.”Dalebozik was arrested not long after Vogiatzakis was taken to hospital.Court heard Dalebozik lived in a hotel near the Portage Avenue restaurant. Police previously said the two men had prior contact near the business.Outside court, Mike Vogiatzakis repeated previous comments he has made how the “justice system failed” his family. “Our family has been torn apart and it hasn’t been easy thing to go through,” he said outside court Monday. “It’s been an emotional roller-coaster ride for my mom, for my brothers…. I get up every day at four o’clock in the morning and that video plays over in my head.”WATCH | Accused expected to claim self-defence in Winnipeg restaurant owner’s death:Accused expected to claim self-defence in Winnipeg restaurant owner’s deathA manslaughter trial started Monday for Curtis Dalebozik in the January 2024 death of 51-year-old Kyriakos Vogiatzakis outside the Cork and Flame on Portage Avenue. The Crown expects the accused to claim it was self-defence, but prosecutors argue the evidence won’t support it. ABOUT THE AUTHORBryce Hoye is a multi-platform journalist with a background in wildlife biology. He has worked for CBC Manitoba for over a decade with stints producing at CBC’s Quirks & Quarks and Front Burner. He was a 2024-25 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. He is also Prairie rep for outCBC. He has won a national Radio Television Digital News Association award for a 2017 feature on the history of the fur trade, and a 2023 Prairie region award for an audio documentary about a Chinese-Canadian father passing down his love for hockey to the next generation of Asian Canadians.Selected storiesEmail: bryce.hoye@cbc.caFacebookMore by Bryce HoyeWith files from Josh Crabb
Footage played in court shows fight that led to St. James restaurateur’s death as trial begins
