Calvin Chartrand. (Calvin Chartrand Facebook)
A Manitoba judge has sentenced Dean Bell to seven years in a federal penitentiary for the manslaughter of Calvin Chartrand, citing a brutal and unprovoked attack balanced against the offender’s traumatic background and efforts to get aid for his victim.
In a sentencing decision delivered Oct. 2 at the Provincial Court in Swan River, Associate Chief Judge G. Bayly detailed the events of Jan. 13, 2024, that led to Chartrand’s death, calling the killing a “mid-to-high range” offence in its culpability.
The court heard that Bell, 26, and his half-brother, Tyrone Guiboche, encountered Chartrand and his girlfriend by chance while walking on Main Street. A confrontation erupted over a prior dispute involving a cell phone that Chartrand had allegedly taken from Bell days earlier.
According to an agreed statement of facts, the encounter quickly turned violent. Bell produced a knife and stabbed Chartrand twice. The first stab wound was to the face. After his brother reportedly said, “that’s enough,” Bell, with Guiboche’s assistance, stabbed Chartrand a second time in the left buttock.
That second wound severed an artery, causing fatal internal bleeding.
“The offender was the aggressor, instigating the confrontation… and deliberately escalated the conflict by producing and using a knife,” Judge Bayly said in his written reasons. “The attack was unprovoked, preemptive and akin to an act of revenge.”
However, the judge also noted significant mitigating factors. After Chartrand cried out, Bell and Guiboche ceased their attack and helped the wounded man to the nearby Swan River Health Centre. Bell also pleaded guilty to manslaughter, expressing remorse and demonstrating insight into his wrongdoing.
The Crown’s case was strong, with the incident captured on video surveillance and multiple eyewitnesses identifying the brothers.
Ultimately, Judge Bayly found that a sentence of eight years would have been warranted, but reduced it to the seven-year term jointly recommended by the Crown and defence. This reduction accounted for Bell’s Gladue factors, which detail the unique systemic and background factors affecting Indigenous offenders, and his attempt to get medical help for Chartrand.
“His seven-year term reflects the serious nature of the offence, underscores the need to denounce violent conduct within the community, and emphasizes the importance of both specific and general deterrence, while also considering the offender’s personal history,” Judge Bayly wrote.
The judge noted that Bell’s “history of victimization, trauma, and cultural disenfranchisement is intricately linked to our country’s shameful legacy of colonialism and attempts at cultural genocide,” which served to lower his moral culpability.
With enhanced credit for the 626 days he has already spent in pre-sentence custody, Bell has 939 days left to serve on his seven-year sentence.
In addition to the prison term, the court issued a lifetime weapons prohibition and ordered Bell to provide a sample of his DNA to the national database.
The case against Tyrone Guiboche is proceeding separately through the court system.
