Death of male in Pritchard Avenue house deemed a homicide

The death of a male whose body was found in a fire-damaged house in Winnipeg's North End is being treated as a homicide.

The body was discoveredafter firefighters extinguished the house fire in the 600 block of Pritchard Avenue early Monday morning. It was removed from the house late thatafternoon.

• Homicide unit investigating deadly Pritchard Avenue house fire

The victim has not been identified and autopsy results have yet to come in, but Winnipeg police say they believe his death is suspicious.

"At this point, we are clearly identifying that foul play is suspected here. This is a homicide investigation," Const. Jason Michalyshen told reporters on Tuesday.

Michalyshendid not have any moredetails about the victim, including his age.

"I don't have an age for you at this point. Right now, we're going to ensure that we have a positive identity. I think we're working very quickly in that direction," he said.

The homicide unit isinvestigating. Officers and cadets were watching over the scene on Tuesday morning.

Michalyshen said investigators are "working towards what [the] cause of death is and certainly a timeline with respect to the fire who was present, what caused the fire, what ultimately occurred with respect to the deceased, the nature of those injuries.

"We're talking about, I think, a fairly involved fire here. [It] poses challenges,but certainly not challenges that we haven't been faced with in the past."

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call investigators at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).