Chef at neighbouring restaurant sentenced to 2 years in 'revenge arson' that destroyed rural Manitoba hotel

Surveillance video captured Pelle Lambiase walking into the lone hotel in a small southeastern Manitoba communitywith a satchel, before he pulledout lighter fluid and a barbecue lighter and setthe building on fire, a Winnipeg court heard this week.

Lambiase, now 65, started the fire in an attached Canada Post outlet, and it spread quickly to the hotel, provincial court Judge Cynthia Devinesaid Tuesday, as she sentenced Lambiaseto two years in prison for arson.

"The motivation was revenge," Devinesaid at the sentencing.

"He was angry at the owners of the hotel for some argument and physical altercation between them and his friend," who owned therestaurant in Rennie where Lambiase worked as a chef,Devine said.

Lambiase, who earlierpleaded guilty,confessed to police only afterthey showed him the surveillance video that he deliberately setthe fire early on the morning of Dec. 8, 2022.

Court heard several people from Rennie, a community of about 120 peoplejust west of Whiteshell Provincial Park, attended an earlier sentencing hearing, where they spoke about the loss of the hotel, which Devine noted "was a home, business and social hub for the community for approximately 80 years."

Among those who spoke were members of the family whosold the hotel to newcomers to Renniejust 18 months before the fire, after the family had operated it since 1952,the judge said.

"The crime was shocking and has resulted in a huge social and community loss," she said.

The hotelhad been closed for more than a month before the fire, and wasn't occupied at the time.

Court heard replacing the hotel, which was a total loss, would cost more than $6 million. Devine said the building was "underinsured," so the loss to the new owners and mortgage holders on the property is significant.

Devine ordered restitution of $62,000 to cover the payments made by the new owners of the hotel to the previous owners.

Crown wanted3-year sentence

Lambiasetold the court he was so intoxicated onopiates and alcohol at the time of the fire, "he did not remember he committed the arson until the police showed him surveillance video retrieved from the hotel three months later," Devine said.

However, Devine didn't accept that he"would not have had some idea of what he had done after lighting a fire with a toxic and redolent substance like lighter fluid."

The Crown asked for a three-year prison sentence, while the defence asked the judge to consider a two-year sentence, or a conditional sentence order of two years less a day, followed by three years of supervised probation.

Devine said a non-custodial sentence "would only very rarely be appropriate for an arson offence," which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.

Despite a guilty plea and expressions of remorse, "theoffence and motivation for the offence are just too serious and the message of denunciation for this arson must be clear and unequivocal," Devine told the court.

Devine noted Lambiase's serious but dated recordincludes a 2004 convictionforsexual assault, for which he was given a sentenceof two years of probation.

He also hadconvictions for fraud under $5,000 in 1995 and several serious offencesin 2002, which resulted in a three-year sentence for two counts of fraud over $5,000, breaking and entering, and theft.

The judge noted he had a difficult upbringing. He was born in Montreal to parents who emigrated from Italy in 1955 and ran restaurants in both Montreal and Winnipeg. Hisfatherwas violent towardhim and his late mother, court heard.

Devine told the court Lambiase has previously struggled with cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin use and abused prescription opiates for decades. He has quit using all non-prescription drugs for the past 15 months, the court heard.

Court heard he worked in and ran restaurants as a chef and cook his entire life, and has been volunteering as head chef at Agape Table, a meal program in Winnipeg.

Devine said while Lambiase was "admittedly intoxicated" at the time of the offence, being drunk and careless was not the motivation for the arson.

"He committed a revenge arson, and was neither mentally ill or someone without a criminal record," she said.