A former Winnipeg firefighter is heading to prison for the next six months after stealing money and jewelry from a dead woman’s apartment while on the job.
The sentence was handed down Wednesday morning, when provincial court Judge Kael McKenzie sentenced Darren Fedyck to six months in prison with no parole. Fedyck was convicted of theft under $5,000.
In October 2015, Fedyck and his crew were called to a woman’s apartment on Henderson Highway to check on her wellbeing. She was found dead.
In his decision, McKenzie said Fedyck behaved unusually during the incident. He was alone in the woman’s apartment for an extended period of time, he had his fire gloves out of his pocket for no apparent reason, and he took all of the firefighter gear out to the truck on his own.
McKenzie said Fedyck “balled up his jacket, and tucked it in a corner of the truck.” He said the captain and two other crew members became suspicious, and the captain ordered the crew members to search the jacket.
They found roughly $800- $1000 in cash along with two necklaces.
Fedyck, 48, claimed that the money belonged to him and that it was for another co-worker who was going to do work on his car.
McKenzie acknowledged the case was built on circumstantial evidence, but said that the only rational inference that he could draw was that the accused stole the money and jewelry. None of the crew members witnessed the theft.
“This was a sad situation, an elderly woman passed away alone in her apartment. Mr. Fedyck’s conduct in stealing from this deceased woman is extremely serious,” McKenzie said.
“Mr. Fedyck abused his position of trust as a member of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.”
In determining the sentence, the judge said he considered Fedyck’s prior criminal record, for fraud under $5,000 in 2010.
Fedyck is no longer employed as a firefighter.
