Two years for role in gun theft, RCMP shooting incident

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This article was published 01/02/2022 (1509 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Delaney Houle has been sentenced to two years in jail for his role in a 2018 incident that ended with an RCMP officer shot in the back of the head. 

Houle, 27, was sentenced in Brandon after more than a year of delays. He is the final person to be sentenced for the Aug. 29, 2018 incident. 

“The circumstances of Mr. Houle’s offences are grave and serious,” Judge Donovan Dvorak said while sentencing him Tuesday afternoon. 

At approximately 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 29, Houle was picked up by co-accused Shane Beaulieu in a stolen truck, Dvorak said. Between 6:30 and 9 that evening, the group broke into a Ditch Lake residence and stole four firearms and ammunition. 

While Crown attorney Daniel Chaput said in August 2020 the Crown can’t prove Houle directly participated in the break-in, by being present he knew about the guns and that they were taken by committing a crime. By continuing on in the stolen truck, he was taking possession of the guns. 

At 9:08 that same evening, Wasagaming RCMP received a report of a break-and-enter in progress at another residence. The caller reported four men going through the buildings on site and one man, Therae Racette-Beaulieu, was armed with a long-barrelled gun. 

When officers arrived, they saw a black truck leaving the scene. Cpl. Graeme Kingdon drove into the front of the truck, which knocked it off the road, Dvorak said. Three people fled. 

While clearing the vehicle, Racette-Beaulieu shot Kingdon in the upper body and back of the head. He fired another shot, which narrowly missed Kingdon and the other officer. 

Houle and Racette-Beaulieu made their way to a residence. Dvorak said they asked to use the phone after telling the people living there they had been out hunting, but the truck got stuck. 

The residents offered them a ride to Onanole, but they were stopped at a police roadblock, where they were arrested. 

Houle pleaded guilty in September 2019 to possession of a weapon obtained by crime, unauthorized possession of a firearm in a vehicle and two counts of break and enter, but did not show up for his original sentencing date in November 2020. He was re-arrested in October. 

Kingdon testified at Racette-Beaulieu’s sentencing, saying the pellets fractured his skull and vertebrae. The shooting also caused damage to Kingdon’s vertebral artery, which has since developed a blood clot he must treat with blood thinners in order to prevent a stroke. 

Chaput asked the judge to sentence Houle to three years in prison for the crimes, saying they were made more serious because they happened in a rural area and involved stealing guns. 

Defence lawyer Tara Walker asked Dvorak to sentence Houle to one year in jail, saying the night boiled down to a single bad decision and he has improved his life in the time since. 

Deterrence is the biggest sentencing consideration, Dvorak said, and noted the presence of guns in the crime brought the risk to another level. 

“Mr. Houle might not have foreseen the shooting of [Cpl.] Kingdon, but surely he must have foreseen some risk,” he said. 

Dvorak also noted the accused’s significant Gladue factors. He is from Sandy Bay First Nation, a community that has suffered from the legacy of colonialism and residential schools. 

Ultimately, Dvorak sentenced Houle to two years in jail, minus 274 days time served. He has 456 days left to serve. Dvorak also sentenced Houle to a year of supervised probation and banned him from owning firearms for life.

Shane Beaulieu was sent to jail for two years for his role in the crime in late August. 

Tommy Beaulieu was sentenced to 13 years in prison and Racette-Beaulieu, who pulled the trigger, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. 

» dmay@brandonsun.com 

» Twitter: @DrewMay_