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JOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES <\/p>\n
Rory Shane Nash has received a seven-year sentence for manslaughter in the 2023 killing of Lee James Boulette.<\/p>\n
Nash co-operated with prosecutors in both cases, but ultimately did not testify in court, Crown attorney Brent Davidson told provincial court Judge Margaret Wiebe at a sentencing hearing Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Nash\u2019s co-operation played no role in his sentence, which was jointly recommended by the Crown and defence, but it did impact the date he was to be sentenced, Davidson said.<\/p>\n
Nash entered his guilty plea in November 2024, but his sentencing date was delayed until this month to allow him to serve his remaining time in a provincial jail, not prison, Davidson said.<\/p>\n
Nash received credit for time served, reducing his remaining sentence to just under two years.<\/p>\n
Multiple people were arrested in both killings, four of whom are serving penitentiary sentences, including Kurtis Joseph Dilallo, who was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder by a jury last February.<\/p>\n
\u201cFour people are in federal custody who would have had an axe to grind with (Nash),\u201d Davidson said. \u201cWe candidly feared that should he be placed in federal custody, he may well not survive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he doesn\u2019t change his life, he will be placed (in prison), and we\u2019re not going to be remanding matters for three years in provincial court every time that Mr. Nash gets into trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
Court heard Nash was enlisted by another accused to join a group of four men who stormed into a Selkirk Avenue apartment where Boulette was visiting a friend.<\/p>\n
Once inside, Nash discharged a can of bear spray and joined three co-accused in restraining Boulette\u2019s friend as Dilallo aimed a sawed-off shotgun at Boulette and shot him in the neck, killing him.<\/p>\n
Boulette\u2019s friend was stabbed in the shoulder before he escaped and made his way to a hospital.<\/p>\n
Nash\u2019s sentence came as the result of a plea bargain that took into account weaknesses in the Crown\u2019s case.<\/p>\n
Boulette\u2019s friend testified at a preliminary hearing but was targeted with threats from a number of Nash\u2019s co-accused, making it uncertain whether he would be available or willing to testify at a trial, Davidson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was scared beyond belief and immediately fled the jurisdiction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nash was not involved in any plan to kill Boulette, \u201cbut accepts he was associating with the wrong kind of people at that point in his life,\u201d said defence lawyer Saul Simmonds.\u201d His involvement in that level of violence was startling to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
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While in custody, Nash has immersed himself in rehabilitative and religious programs, Simmonds said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has taken every step to make amends with his maker, as it were,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nash told court he wants to help kids stay away from gangs and drugs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to just say sorry, but prove it through my actions upon release,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Dean Pritchard Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Courts reporter
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