Pair plead guilty to role in fatal fight

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This article was published 07/03/2023 (969 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two men from Gambler First Nation pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter in the deadly beating of Matthew Swain, who resided in the same community.

Desmond Tanner and Robert Fleury appeared wearing grey sweatsuits and chain shackles in the Court of King’s Bench on Monday morning to enter their pleas. Both men were charged last March in the death of Swain, whose body was found in a Jeep near the airport in Russell, Man., approximately 30 kilometres north of Gambler.

According to the agreed statement of facts, which was read by Crown Attorney Grant Hughes in court, the brutal beating that led to Swain’s death began Aug. 13, 2019, when 29-year-old Tanner and 34-year-old Fleury were drinking alcohol at their home with Swain, 40.

That evening, a fight broke out between the three men, with Tanner and Fleury ganging up on Swain.

A 11 p.m., Tanner’s then-girlfriend returned home to find Fleury passed out on the couch in the living room, his hand covered in blood and Tanner frantically trying to clean up the blood in the house. Tanner’s girlfriend helped Fleury to bed and assisted Tanner in cleaning up the blood.

When she learned that a badly injured Swain was in the backseat of Tanner’s Jeep, she urged Tanner to take Swain to the hospital.

Tanner left the house and came back multiple times, once returning to tell his girlfriend that he planned to take the Jeep into a field and kill himself by setting fire to the vehicle while he was inside.

Eventually, Tanner’s girlfriend convinced him to take Swain to the hospital while she rode along with him. But on their way to the hospital, the couple ran into car trouble and the Jeep broke down on the side of the highway near the Russell airport.

From the highway, Tanner called 911 and without giving his name, told the operator that Swain was in the back seat of the Jeep, located near the airport, had suffered a head wound and was barely breathing. Tanner also told the operator that another man who was drinking with him and Swain, but left when the fight broke out, was responsible for Swain’s condition.

While they were waiting on the side of the road, Tanner unsuccessfully tried to flag down an ambulance passing by on its way to another call. Later, Tanner and his girlfriend, leaving Swain in the Jeep, returned home after Tanner’s mother picked them up from the highway.

When emergency services found Swain in the Jeep, they noted the vehicle smelled of gasoline and brought Swain to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. By 2:17 a.m., he was dead.

The cause of death was blunt-force head injury, but Swain also had multiple contusions and abrasions on his head and neck, a fractured nasal bone and brain swelling.

Swain’s family attended Monday’s proceedings wearing “Justice for Matthew” clothing, but they declined to speak with the Sun.

As previously reported, Swain was a welder by trade and dabbled in artistic pursuits such as drawing and bead work and could fix all sorts of electronics. He was born in Yorkton, Sask., and was the youngest of five children. Swain, who also had a young daughter, has been described as a family man and generous friend.

“He would give you the shirt off his back,” Swain’s sister, Georgina, told the Sun in 2019. “He’d give you the last dime in his pocket. That’s just the kind of man he was.”

Gladue reports, pre-sentencing reports that contain information about the unique circumstances of Indigenous people charged with criminal offences, will be conducted for both Tanner and Fleury before they are scheduled to receive their sentences.

Sentencing for Tanner and Fleury is scheduled for Sept. 25.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @geena_mortfield