Police, courts kept busy in 2010

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/12/2010 (5797 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This year brought fresh tragedies but also some closure, at least, as some offenders were sentenced for major crimes.

Here’s a summary of the prominent crimes and court cases for 2010:

 

* Manslaughter plea: In January, police arrested a 17-year-old Winnipeg youth for the stabbing death of Jonathan Anderson on April 22, 2009.

The youth pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter as court heard he’d stabbed Anderson, his friend, in the chest during a botched robbery attempt.

He and Anderson, 18, had gone to a Stickney Avenue home to rob two drug dealers of marijuana and the youth mistakenly stabbed Anderson during the ensuing struggle.

The pair fled and Anderson, who’s also from Winnipeg, collapsed outside a home on 14th Street North. He was taken to hospital, but died within 30 minutes as the knife had penetrated his heart and caused extensive bleeding.

The youth still awaits sentencing.

 

* Fine for fatal crash: Joseph Rolland Gerald Lachapelle was fined $5,000 for a fatal crash that killed a Deerboine Hutterite colony woman.

Lachapelle was driving a semi-trailer north on Highway 250 on Oct. 27, 2009 when he rolled through a stop sign onto the Trans-Canada.

An eastbound truck that carried 62-year-old Ann Hofer hit the semi and Hofer was killed.

Lachapelle pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death, a charge that carries a possible jail term.

However, Crown attorney Jim Ross said Hofer’s husband is a devout man who believed that, as difficult as the loss of his wife was, it was God’s will.

The husband said sending Lachapelle to jail would do no good.

Instead, during sentencing on Jan. 19, Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta issued the fine and banned Lachapelle from driving for a year.

 

* Duane Lacquette killed: Police are called on Jan. 16 after Lacquette’s body is found in his Centennial Boulevard home.

An autopsy determines that the 21-year-old died from blunt force trauma.

Jason John Ouimet, 28, is arrested on Feb. 4 and charged with second-degree murder.

Ouimet, a Shilo-based soldier, is later released on bail. The case is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in the new year.

 

* Jail for fatal joyride: Rapid City-area resident Christopher Ryan Rollins is sentenced to two-years-less-a-day for the crash that killed Jodie Lynn Vandenberghe.

 

Vandenberghe was a passenger in a truck that rolled near Bethany on June 19, 2009.

Rollins was sentenced in March for dangerous driving causing death and driving while disqualified. All five people in the truck, including Rollins had been drinking.

The truck rolled as Rollins steered it through water to soak Vandenberghe as she stuck her head out the window.

Rollins was also banned from driving for five years.

 

* Fatal shooting in Neepawa: RCMP make an arrest following a deadly shooting in Neepawa.

Police were called to a home at the corner of Third Avenue and Highway 16 around 4:15 a.m. on April 10. Officers arrived to find Brent Michael David Bialkoski, 23, dead.

Robert Patrick Ray Morand, 21, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

The case remains before the courts.

 

* Double homicide sentence: A teen was sentenced for taking the lives of his adoptive mother and adoptive sister.

The boy was 14 years old on Aug. 24, 2007 when he shot and killed his 43-year-old mother and his five-year-old sister with a rifle at the family home near St. Lazare.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and, in July, Justice Robert Cummings sentenced the teen to four years in jail followed by three years supervision in the community.

It was the maximum sentence allowed under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The youth had already spent three years in custody waiting to deal with his charges, which wasn’t credited toward his sentence.

In court, the youth claimed he’d snapped after suffering abuse from his adoptive mother but didn’t mean to kill his sister. There was also evidence of severe physical and emotional abuse before his adoption.

 

* Ten years for Sioux Valley slaying: In August, a man who shot his "best friend" was sent to prison for the killing.

Torien Craig Demas shot Joseph Dale Edwards Jr., in the back of the head with a sawed-off shotgun on Nov. 2, 2009 at the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation.

The pair was drinking together when, Demas said, Edwards had started to "talk shit" to him.

Edwards’ body was found lying on a gravel road. Meanwhile, Demas had shown up at the home he shared with his mom. He was clutching the gun and pieces of Edwards’ brain and skull.

He then left, but arranged for his surrender to police the next day.

On Aug. 5, Demas was sentenced to 11 years in prison minus one year spent in pre-sentence custody.

 

* Stabbing brings prison term: Two years after a man was fatally stabbed, his assailant was sentenced for the crime.

Darryl Henry Racette, 31, received six years in prison for manslaughter and two counts of aggravated assault.

On Aug. 15, 2008 Racette, who was part of a group that had been drinking and doing drugs, grabbed a kitchen knife and rushed to help a buddy who’d been "jumped."

Two groups clashed near Argyle Courts following a fight at a motel bar. Racette stabbed 24-year-old Marshall Roulette four times, and two other men twice each.

Roulette later died in hospital.

On Sept. 28, Justice John Menzies sentenced Racette to a total of six years in prison on top of two years pre-sentence custody.

 

* Driver fined for fatal crash: A driver who killed two cyclists was fined $5,000 and banned from driving for three years.

Ian Edmond Gibbons, 29, received that sentenced in August for careless driving.

He was driving a 2005 Honda Civic that hit four cyclists from behind as they rode along the Trans-Canada Highway near Virden on June 29, 2008.

Daniel Hurtubise, 50, of St.-Bruno-de-Monarville, Que., and Robert Carrier, 45, of Kelowna, B.C., were both killed. Hurtubise’s two children — Sonia,16, and Alexandre, 19 — were both injured, but survived the collision.

Gibbons claimed he was distracted while adjusting his air conditioning.

 

* Manslaughter in Melita: A 15-year-old who beat a 64-year-old relative to death is sentenced to 20 months in jail.

The youth had been drinking heavily at a bonfire party at a Melita home on May 13 when he demanded $40 he believed he was owed by Mel Renwick.

The teen severely beat Renwick when he didn’t hand over the money and at one point stomped on Renwick’s head.

Renwick made it home to the Melita Lodge, but was found dead in his room the next day. An autopsy showed that he’d died of a severe head injury.

His assailant pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced on Dec. 8 to 20 months in jail to be followed by 10 months under supervision in the community.

That will be followed by two years probation.