Halifax man awaiting murder trial rearrested on sexual assault allegations at homeless shelter
Kenneth Wayne Clarke, 43, who was granted bail in April 2025 while awaiting trial for the first-degree murder of Chauntel Lizette MacIntyre, has been remanded to custody after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at the Halifax shelter where he had been living under his release conditions.
A 43-year-old Halifax man awaiting trial for first-degree murder has been returned to custody after being charged with sexual assault and breaching his release conditions.
Kenneth Wayne Clarke was arrested in November 2023 and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the May 17, 2022, stabbing death of 37-year-old Chauntel Lizette MacIntyre. She was found stabbed at approximately 12:45 a.m. at the intersection of Herring Cove Road and Sylvia Avenue in Halifax and died from her wounds. Halifax Regional Police stated that Clarke knew both MacIntyre and a 31-year-old woman who was questioned but released without charges within 10 hours.
In April 2025, a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge granted Clarke bail on a $30,000 order with one surety. His release conditions included house arrest, electronic monitoring, remaining in Nova Scotia, surrendering his passport, reporting to police weekly, meeting with a forensic social worker, avoiding Spryfield, having no contact with 11 Crown witnesses, and abstaining from alcohol, drugs, and firearms. His original bail required him to live at Tamarack House, operated by the John Howard Society, but this was varied in April to allow him to move to the Halifax Forum’s Multi-Purpose Centre on Young Street, where he resided for seven months.
After being out on bail for approximately 19 months, Clarke was arrested again following allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at the Young Street shelter. He was arraigned on charges of sexual assault and breaching release conditions and remanded to the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth.
Defence duty lawyer Alex Baranowski stated that Clarke is not proposing a bail application and consented to remand in order to connect with full-service counsel. Judge James Burrill ordered Clarke to have no contact with the alleged victim while on remand. The matter was docketed for Nov. 30 in Halifax provincial court for election and plea.
Clarke's jury trial on the murder charge, previously scheduled for April 2026, has been postponed to April 1-28, 2027, at the request of his lawyers Nick Fitch and David Hirtle.