Fatal prison beating detailed

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This article was published 26/05/2010 (5586 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg gang member was only supposed to be taught a lesson — not targeted for death — when several fellow inmates jumped him inside Stony Mountain prison.

But the man who claims he stood by and watched the fatal attack unfold says the "timed beating" quickly got out of control.

"I knew it was getting out of hand. I pretty much said ‘Holy (expletive), you guys are overdoing it," Steven Courchene told jurors Tuesday. "I think they all looked at him after and knew…he wasn’t moving at all."

Courchene, 32, is the Crown’s key witness in the case of four men on trial for the March 2005 slaying. He was granted immunity by Manitoba justice officials in exchange for his testimony.

David Tavares, 40, died of trauma after being attacked in a prison recreation room. Victor Ryle, who is accused of ordering the attack, has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. Alvin Cote, Charles Coaster and Evan Myran allegedly carried out the attack and are charged with second-degree murder.

Courchene, Tavares and the accused were all members of the Native Syndicate street gang who were being housed in the same unit at the medium-security federal prison just north of Winnipeg. Tavares had angered his fellow gangsters by his conduct, which included openly complaining about several people owing him money for tobacco he’d sold them behind bars, court was told.

Courchene said an executive gang decision was made to give Tavares a "deboard", which is gang slang for a timed beating. Courchene said he was assigned to keep track of how long it lasted. The typical length of a beating was between 30 seconds and three minutes, he said.

Tavares knew what was coming but didn’t agree with it.

"As the day went on he became angrier and angrier. He was upset about it, he thought it was bull," said Courchene. The beating was supposed to happen in a prison washroom, but Tavares refused to go along with the plan. Courchene told jurors that Cote, Coaster and Myran – acting on orders from Ryle – attacked him near some pool tables. Tavares was repeatedly kicked, punched and eventually dragged into a washroom, where he was left in a pool of blood.

Tavares was found unconscious after staff closed the recreation centre. He was taken to the infirmary and was later pronounced dead.

RCMP Cpl. Ian MacInnis previously told jurors how investigators got a major break when Courchene contacted them weeks after the killing, wanting to talk about what he’d witnessed. MacInnis said they initially made no promises to Courchene, who eventually gave a series of videotaped statements after being told he wouldn’t be charged in the slaying.

www.mikeoncrime.com