Photo by Curtis Galbraith

By EverythingGP staff

Court

Second accused in death of Sturgeon Lake man pleads guilty to manslaughter

Oct 17, 2022 | 5:39 PM

The second accused in the 2019 death of a Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation man has pleaded guilty.

Alan Hamelin admitted to a reduced charge of manslaughter plus another charge of interfering with a dead body Monday in Grande Prairie court. He was given a total of 14 years in federal custody, 12 years on the manslaughter count, and two on the interfere with a dead body charge. He was given five years credit for time already spent in jail. That will all be applied to the manslaughter charge, leaving a total of nine years left to serve.

Hamelin was due to stand trial by jury for murder with the trial starting Monday.

He admitted his role in the death of Barry Goodswimmer in June of 2019.

An agreed statement of facts read out in court says Hamelin punched Goodswimmer, knocking him from where he was sitting, while they were at a house party. He then hit him with a golf club until it broke and then with a baseball bat while a second man, Harlin Martineau, held Goodswimmer down.

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The two then took Goodswimmer away on an ATV and left him along a trail. Goodswimmer was still alive. Hamelin later went back, hit Goodswimmer with the bat again, and stabbed him with the golf club, blows that were later determined to be the cause of death. Goodswimmer’s body was found in a marsh

When asked by Judge Eldon Simpson why the Crown agreed to a plea of manslaughter, the Crown said there was too great a risk at trial to prove the intent of the accused was to kill. Cases with similar sentences were also cited.

The Crown also told the court about mitigating factors like pleading guilty and serious mental health issues and aggravating factors including that it was an unprovoked attack, that it was a two-on-one attack on an unarmed man, and an extreme level of violence.

The defense also acknowledged serious mental health issues.

Simpson accepted the joint submission, saying it was in the range of sentences given in similar cases. He also called it an unexplained, unprovoked attack that was callous, vicious, and inexplicable violence.

Earlier, Martineau also pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter. He is due back in court November 7.