Witnesses describe giving aid to victims

A father and son described how they provided aid to two men with stab wounds — including during the final moments of one victim’s life — after a violent altercation in Waywayseecappo First Nation.

Warren Oudie wiped tears from his face as he testified in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench about seeing Tristin Beaulieu, 23, standing on a gravel road when his body went “limp” and he fell to the ground on the night of July 5, 2023.

“I (saw) a bunch of blood on his sweater and he was trying to talk to me,” Oudie said.

The 45-year-old man said he held Beaulieu as he died.

Talisa Brandon, 27, is on trial for manslaughter and aggravated assault after she allegedly killed Beaulieu and injured David Medicine during the same fight.

Oudie told Crown attorneys Melania Cannon and Nikki Boggs about what happened prior to both stabbings.

He and his son, Jude Mentuck, walked over to their neighbour’s house, where a group of people sat outside drinking alcohol and listening to music, Oudie said.

He said Beaulieu and Brandon’s former partner, Larry Jeremiah Ross, started shouting at each other and then the party moved next door to the home of Beaulieu and his partner. The arguing continued and “things got out of hand,” he said.

Oudie said Brandon, Ross, Beaulieu and Medicine were “pushing and shoving” each other around in the kitchen and living room.

“We were trying to separate them — me and Jude,” he said, adding that they continued to “calm” Medicine down while the other three went outside.

Nobody left the house with any weapons, Oudie said.

Then he heard screaming and yelling from the road and rushed outside with his son. He used an aerial snapshot taken by police to show how he and his son split up to find out what was happening.

The day after the incident, Oudie said he returned to his house with his son and noticed two kitchen knives were missing from the sink. He told the Crown that his front door didn’t work properly and was left unlocked.

During cross-examination, defence lawyer Jonathan Richert provided Oudie with a transcript of an interview he had with police during which he told them he saw Medicine leaving the house party with a knife that was about 10 inches long.

“Although you were in shock, would you agree with me that it’s more likely that your memories of what occurred the day after all this happened would have been more fresh and probably more accurate than they might be today?” Richert said.

Oudie testified that everything happened so fast that evening and he wasn’t sure now whether he saw Medicine leave with a knife.

During his testimony, Mentuck, 21, described how people were “having a good time” while drinking alcohol and listening to music at Beaulieu and his partner’s house. That changed when Brandon allegedly hit Medicine twice in the head with a golf club at the party.

“He started bleeding on his head,” Mentuck said.

He couldn’t recall what started the argument, but he immediately tried to break it up with his dad and took the golf club away from Brandon.

Mentuck said his father also took a knife from Medicine after Brandon, Ross and Ross’s sister and niece went outside. He said he didn’t see any of them leave with weapons.

Mentuck said Ross and Brandon’s toddler was crying under the kitchen table, so he brought her out to them on the driveway.

When the Crown asked if Mentuck saw any blood on the girl or if she was hurt at the party, he said he couldn’t remember.

After Mentuck handed the toddler to Ross, he walked back to the house and passed by Beaulieu and Medicine, who were standing on the stairs. He said he couldn’t see whether the two men were carrying any weapons as they walked down the road because it was dark outside.

He could hear yelling and scuffling on the gravel, which prompted Mentuck and Oudie to go and see what was happening. Mentuck said he went through the neighbour’s bushes and saw Medicine running up the lane, yelling in pain while “holding his side.”

He said the neighbour came outside her house and called 911.

“I held his side with a towel and then my dad came back and told me to go help him with Tristin.”

Mentuck said he left Medicine’s side to help apply pressure to Beaulieu’s wounds.

The trial continues.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com