Swain’s family speaks at sentencing

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This article was published 26/09/2023 (767 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cynthia Swain told a courtroom Monday that ever since the deadly 2019 beating of her uncle, Matthew Swain, she had questioned God and asked herself why God would take the 40-year-old father away from his family.

Cynthia, who grew up with Matthew and considered him to be like a brother, answered her own question on Monday morning.

“It wasn’t God that took Matthew from us,” she said through tears. “Desmond Tanner and Robert Fleury took Matthew from us — it was their hands that took the life of my brother.”

Cynthia’s words were part of her victim impact statement, which she read aloud to a King’s Bench courtroom during the arguments for the sentencing of Tanner and Fleury — both from Gambler First Nation — who both pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Swain, also from the same community.

His body was found in a Jeep near the airport in Russell in August 2019.

Prosecutors asked for four to five years behind bars for Fleury and six years for Tanner. Defence counsel for Fleury asked for three and a half years, while Tanner’s lawyer asked that his client be handed a sentence closer to five years.

“No amount of justice will ever justify what Desmond and Robert took from me and my family,” Cynthia said, detailing to the court the devastating effects Matthew’s death has had on the family and the daily grief she experiences. Statements from other family members, including Swain’s sister and cousin and the mother of Swain’s young daughter, were also read.

The prosecution echoed the family’s sentiments when Crown attorney Melania Cannon began her arguments.

“Nothing we do here today can bring Matthew Swain back to his family,” she said. “Nothing we do here can begin to make up for the unspeakable loss they’ve suffered.”

Cannon detailed the events of the night that Swain died. He had been drinking with Fleury and Tanner when a fight broke out. Swain was badly beaten during the fight and died as a result of a blunt force head injury. Fleury and Tanner were left without apparent injury, which was indicated in a statement that Tanner’s girlfriend gave to police, Cannon said.

Tanner’s girlfriend came home to find Fleury passed out with blood on his hands, and Tanner frantically trying to clean up blood in the house. Tanner’s girlfriend eventually persuaded him to take Swain to the hospital. But on the way to the hospital, the Jeep broke down near the Russell airport. Without mentioning his name to the operator, Tanner called 911 about the Jeep and Swain’s condition. He told the operator that another man, who was drinking with the three that evening, was responsible for Swain’s injuries.

While waiting for paramedics, Tanner unsuccessfully tried to flag down an ambulance passing by on its way to another call. Eventually, Tanner left the Jeep and walked to Russell, where his mother picked him up. When the ambulance arrived, paramedics found Swain in the Jeep and brought him to the hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Cannon noted that while the Crown might have faced some challenges in the trial, such as the issue of Tanner’s girlfriend contradicting herself in a statement to police, there were many factors that made the case more serious. Tanner didn’t get medical help for Swain right away, instead leaving him in the Jeep.

“The steps Mr. Tanner took to get his victim help, it was far too little, too late,” Cannon said.

Tanner’s lawyer, Tony Kavanagh, argued that his 31-year-old client should be sentenced to five and half months behind bars so that he can stay in jail instead of serving time in Stony Mountain.

Detailing Tanner’s childhood with an alcoholic father and Tanner’s own substance use issues with alcohol and drugs, Kavanagh said that provincial jail offers Tanner better opportunities for rehabilitation without the risk of falling back into old habits with the potential influence of gangs and drugs at Stony Mountain.

The defence lawyer said that choosing provincial jail means that his client wouldn’t be eligible for early parole, so he would spend more time in custody and added that Tanner was remorseful and wanted to apologize to the family.

Fleury’s lawyer, Bob Harrison, argued that his 36-year-old client should be sentenced to three and half years behind bars, as he had less involvement in the beating than Tanner. Fleury was originally charged with manslaughter, whereas Tanner was charged with second-degree murder and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. Harrison said that Fleury told him that he thinks about Swain’s death every day.

King’s Bench Justice Scott Abel reserved his decision on the fate of the two men. Abel’s decision on Tanner’s and Fleury’s sentences is scheduled for Nov. 27.

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