Blacksmith denied killing after 2023 arrest

The man accused in a fatal 2023 shooting on Sioux Valley Dakota Nation told police after his arrest that the 21-year-old victim had shot himself in the head.

Later in his two-hour recorded statement, he said “they” shot the man, referring to the people who were around the victim when he was shot.

Jeremy Blacksmith, 43, stands trial in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench after he pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Blaze Tacan, as well as two weapons offences.

Crown attorneys Rich Lonstrup and Sarah Kok played the video-recorded statement on Thursday. It was taken at the Virden RCMP detachment on Aug. 6, 2023 — the day after the shooting.

“Did you murder Blaze?” Const. Mark Walker of the Winnipeg Major Crime Unit asked Blacksmith.

“No, I didn’t,” Blacksmith responded.

Later in the statement, when Walker asked Blacksmith to run him through his day leading up to the shooting, Blacksmith said he woke up and worked on fixing his motorbike, and that’s all. “I had nothing to do with this,” he said.

Blacksmith repeated multiple times that Tacan and his peers had been bullying him and his son for several years and at one point said he “knew this shit was going to happen.”

He told Walker that Tacan walked onto the road, lifted his shirt to show a black handgun in his waistband, and was trying to get Blacksmith and a 17-year-old boy who was with him to come to the road.

“So, who shot Blaze?” Walker asked.

“He did. He shot himself,” Blacksmith responded.

Later, Walker asked how he shot himself. Blacksmith said he didn’t know and that he didn’t want to talk anymore.

Walker asked him why he “took off” after the shooting and where he and the youth went.

“Because I got scared, man,” Blacksmith said. “Because they were going to shoot us.”

He said he and the youth ran roughly five miles through the bush to get to Blacksmith’s father’s house.

He said they left right away and didn’t have time to grab anything from the house.

Walker told Blacksmith that while he believed some parts of his story, he didn’t believe that Tacan shot himself.

“A human being’s dead, Blaze is dead,” Walker said.

“Because he wanted to be, man,” Blacksmith responded.

Walker asked what he said and why he would want to shoot himself. Blacksmith said he didn’t know.

When questioned further, Blacksmith said, “They shot him.”

“Who was that?” Walker asked.

“I don’t know, whoever the f— was at their place,” he said.

Walker showed Blacksmith a photo of a sawed-off shotgun with ammunition and told him that he believed he shot Tacan, which Blacksmith continued to deny.

Blacksmith responded by saying that two years ago, police came to his house and told him he was receiving death threats and that he should protect himself.

Walker told him that was the gun that killed Tacan, and Blacksmith said he had never seen it before in his life.

Const. Tirrell Lukye, a member of the Virden RCMP, took the stand on Thursday morning.

He described responding to the scene, where he saw Tacan on the ground and a First Nations safety officer holding a “cloth or rag” to the top of Tacan’s head.

“I estimated the stream of blood to be about six feet long, and therefore I did not ask … to remove the cloth. I did not need to see the injury. I did note that the deceased’s face appeared to be unharmed. So, I believe the injury was at the top of his head,” he testified.

He said the crime scene was busy when he arrived, and he was told the names of two suspects — Blacksmith and the youth who was with him.

Lukye said he searched for the suspects for about 10 to 15 minutes before returning to the scene, where he helped contain it and provided security.

He was notified shortly after that the two suspects had been located and arrested at a residence.

Lukye testified that he cleared the house and waited for another member with a police dog to arrive. When the RCMP found a sawed-off shotgun with ammunition — four live rounds and one spent — he took photos of the items.

Lily Huang, who is a trace evidence forensics specialist, also testified.

She explained the process of identifying and testing for gunshot residue. She received samples from Blacksmith’s face and hands, as well as the face and hands of the youth who was with Blacksmith.

She confirmed that there was gunshot residue found on both individuals’ hands, but not on their faces.

Huang came to the same conclusion for both individuals — that they either discharged a firearm, were in the proximity of a firearm being discharged or were in contact with another source of gunshot residue.

Defence lawyer Bob Harrison questioned whether someone could test positive for gunshot residue if they touched the shooter’s clothing or body. Huang said if the shooter has gunshot residue on them, then it could be transferred through contact.

Harrison asked if particles could transfer from a bag that the shooter was wearing to the non-shooter if they touched it. She said if there is gunshot residue on the fabric, then it could transfer.

The trial continues.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com