Vernon Matters photo

By Pete McIntyre

B.C. Supreme Court

Judge passes sentence in Vernon ‘wine bottle’ manslaughter, calls it a ‘difficult case’

May 31, 2024 | 4:35 PM

A Vernon woman has been given a five year prison sentence for causing the death of another woman in a Vernon hotel room four years ago.

Paige Courtenay Howse, 30, was sentenced on Friday in B.C. Supreme Court after earlier pleading guilty to the manslaughter of her acquaintance Alishia Lemp, 33, on Feb. 27, 2020

Justice Ann Donegan noted while there are a lot of facts that will never be known about what happened that day at the Canada Best Value Inn and Suites on 32nd Street, she said the evidence showed Howse “brutally beat Ms.Lemp with a weapon, likely a wine bottle that was nearby.”

Donegan said Lemp was struck in the face and head multiple times and suffered multiple injuries after the two women had an prolonged argument and physical fight.

The hotel room was a ‘scene of chaos” when police arrived, with items all over the place, broken glass and hundreds of blood spatter stains in the room.

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Howse, who ended up with two black eyes from the altercation, claimed she didn’t remember what happened, but didn’t try to get help for Lemp, and eventually just left her dead in the room as she travelled to Kelowna.

“Ms. Howse failed to offer any assistance or call for help,” Donegan said adding the evidence did not indicate that Howse was acting in self-defence.

“Based upon all I have discussed, the gravity of your offence, your mental blame worthiness, the aggravating and mitigating factors, primary objectives of denunciation and general deterrence, comparing your case to others, and giving as much weight as can be justified to the objective of rehabilitation, I find a proportionate sentence in this difficult case is five years imprisonment,” Donegan said in her ruling.

Howse was given credit for 833 days already servied in custody, which with the enhanced credit is 1220 days, meaning she has another 605 days — or about 20 months — to serve behind bars.

Crown lawyer Margaret Cissell had recommended a 7 to 9 year prison sentence while defence lawyer Mark Swartz called for up to four years, minus times served.

Howse, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, issued an apology to the half-dozen of Lemp’s family members who were in the courtroom on Friday.

“I want to apologize to Alishia’s family and the courts for my role in Alishia’s murder [she was originally charged with second degree murder]. I failed to stop hitting Alishia, causing her death, and also failed to call 9-1-1…(inaudible). My choices, action, and non action on the day, and the days after, were on me,” Howse told the court.

An autopsy of Lemp in 2020 showed she died of blunt force trauma to the head, and had multiple skull fractures, among other injuries.

Lemp had been invited by Howse to come stay with her as the two worked in the sex trade industry.

Howse was arrested in Surrey in September 2021 and charged with second degree murder of Lemp.

She pled guilty to manslaughter in September 2023.

Crown calls for 7-9 year prison term for Vernon ‘wine bottle’ manslaughter
May 17, 2024

A wine bottle is believed to have been the item that killed a woman after a bloody altercation with another woman in a Vernon hotel room four years ago.

Paige Courtney Howse, 30, was in B.C. Supreme Court in Vernon Friday for a sentencing hearing after she pled guilty last September to manslaughter in the death of 33-year-old Alishia Lemp on Feb. 27, 2020.

Alishia Lemp, victim of 2020 manslaughter in Vernon (Facebook photo)

Howse was originally charged with second degree murder.

Lemp’s bloodied body was found in the bathroom of a room at the Canada Best Value Inn and Suites on 32nd Street a day later.

Crown counsel Margaret Cissell told Justice Ann Donegan, Lemp had purchased a 1.5 litre bottle of Solo wine just a few hours before as she and Howse were returning to the hotel after being at Vernon’s Lake City Casino.

“The wine bottle is believed to have been used by Ms. Howse to strike more than one blow, resulting in Ms. Lemp’s death in the early morning hours of Feb. 27th, 2020,” Cissell stated.

Cissell said Lemp had been invited by Howse to come and stay and work with her at the Canada Inn.

“The two were acquaintances and had been employed together in the past in the sex trade industry.”

The Crown lawyer said other guests and residents at the hotel said they heard the two women “yelling and arguing” in Howse’s room, number 206.

According to the Crown, one resident said he heard banging that lasted about three hours from the room that he said sounded like “sex noises, with banging against the wall.”

In a statement of facts approved by both the Crown and defence, Cissell said Howse struck the left side of Lemp’s head with the wine bottle more than once on Feb. 27th.

“Her strikes to Ms. Lemp continued as Ms. Lemp’s body elevation changed to floor level in front of the door in room 206, causing her death.”

The Crown said a hotel guest was contacted by Howse the morning of Feb. 27th on Facebook Messenger, saying “something bad happened, and that ‘”she and her friend got into a fight” and “she didn’t think she was breathing.”

The guest went to Howse’s room, but she refused to open the door for him, but asked him if he “knew how to do CPR,” which he did not.

The man looked into the front window of the room and saw a female lying face down on the floor.

CCTV video showed Howse leaving her room at the hotel on the morning of Feb. 28th

“This is the final time Ms. Howse is seen before being located and detained by police in the City of Kelowna on March 1st, 2020,” Cissell stated.

Two staff members of the hotel entered Howse’s room later that evening.

“Once inside, they discovered a trail of blood that led from the front door, across the kitchen, to the bathroom. They followed the trail of blood to the bathroom where the located the body of Ms. Lemp,” the prosecutor said.

Police were called and attended the room, finding the body was “cold to the touch.”

“They observed that the room was in a state of disarray, with evidence of an altercation,” Cissell explained.

“Articles are strewn about, there is broken glass and computer parts. Alcohol containers are strewn around the floor. The television is found face down on the bed.”

Cissell said there were “hundreds” of blood spatter stains in the room.

Howse was arrested in Surrey in September 2021 and charged with second degree murder of Lemp.

An autopsy of Lemp on March 3, 2020, showed she died of blunt force trauma to the head, and had multiple skull fractures, among other injuries.

Lemp, who struggled with alcohol, had a blood alcohol concentration of 400 milligrams.

“This level of blood alcohol would produce significant intoxication for a normal person with symptoms of depressed respiration and unconsciousness. A heavy drinker with more tolerance would experience fewer symptoms,” Cissell stated.

The prosecutor called for a custodial sentence of 7 to 9 years for Howse who appeared by video in court from a women’s correctional centre.

Cissell noted the general range for manslaughter is 4 to 15 years in prison, noting the offense can range from a “near accident to a near murder.”

Defence lawyer Mark Swartz recommended one to four years in custody, less time served, followed by two years probation.

He made the argument that no one really knows what went on in the room that night.

“What happened over the course of that night left much to the imagination, other that we hear from a number of neighbours that they heard banging or sex noises,” Swartz told the court.

Swartz said his client, who ended up with two black eyes from the incident, may have been struck by Lemp first and was trying to defend herself.

“I don’t think the court can come to any conclusions who initiated it.”

Swartz noted Howse has been diagnosed as having schizophrenia and may have been suffering from a psychotic episode at the time of the incident.

The Crown, on the other hand, said they felt Howse’s mental health “did not play a central role” in the case.

Swartz told the court Howse has been in custody for a total of 799 days, which with enhanced credit is 1,199 days, or about three years and three months.

Alishia Lemp’s mother, Brenda Poulin, read a victim impact statement to the judge, saying the death has “greatly affected” her family’s life.

“[When I heard] that Alishia was murdered, my whole body — and my world — collapsed around me. I still feel like I have a broken heart,” Poulin who has four other children, said.

“Paige has committed this crime against our whole family, and we are all victims.”

Following the sentencing submissions, Justice Donegan reserved her judgement.

The BC Prosecution Service said the judge is expected to make her decision on the sentence on May 31 at 2 p.m.