A Manitoba woman facing multiple murder and attempted murder charges after a fatal fire at a Winnipeg rooming house was freed from jail just days prior to the incident, according to court records.
As well, Lulonda Lynn Flett, 40, was ordered to stay away from a relative who police have identified as an attempted murder victim in connection to the deadly blaze, which lit up 288 Austin St. N. early Saturday.
Six people were trapped inside and five have now died, police confirmed Monday.
Another man’s condition has stabilized.
Three days prior to the fire, Flett pleaded guilty to assaulting her sister-in-law during a November 2009 incident in the inner city where the victim was knocked down, kicked and punched. It remains her only criminal conviction.
In sentencing her, Provincial Court Judge Don Slough agreed to release the mother of six on conditions she be supervised by probation officials for a period of one year and stay away from her sister-in-law.
“Stay away from her,” Slough told her, after it appeared Flett was confused about the implications of the stay-away order.
“OK,” she replied.
Flett was arrested at a bar on Main Street about 14 hours after the fatal fire. Police allege Flett approached the front of the rooming house, poured some kind of accelerant and lit it.
When announcing the arrest, police also alleged Flett may have been been involved in a dispute with a woman who lived at the home who she knew. That person fled the home and escaped being injured, police added.
Flett, who hails from Norway House, remains in custody.
Her case returns to court on Friday. She has not applied for bail.
