Killer makes ‘amends with his maker’

A Winnipeg man, who once faced two counts of first-degree murder for slayings that were three days apart, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for manslaughter.

Rory Shane Nash, 42, entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge in the Feb. 1, 2023 killing of Lee James Boulette.

Nash was also one of four people arrested in the killing of Carl George Wescoupe three days earlier at the Manwin Hotel on Main Street. Prosecutors later stayed the first-degree murder charge against Nash due to insufficient evidence.

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.

Nash’s 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.

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.

Nash received credit for time served, reducing his remaining sentence to just under two years.

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.

“Four people are in federal custody who would have had an axe to grind with (Nash),” Davidson said. “We candidly feared that should he be placed in federal custody, he may well not survive.

“If he doesn’t change his life, he will be placed (in prison), and we’re not going to be remanding matters for three years in provincial court every time that Mr. Nash gets into trouble.”

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.

Once inside, Nash discharged a can of bear spray and joined three co-accused in restraining Boulette’s friend as Dilallo aimed a sawed-off shotgun at Boulette and shot him in the neck, killing him.

Boulette’s friend was stabbed in the shoulder before he escaped and made his way to a hospital.

Nash’s sentence came as the result of a plea bargain that took into account weaknesses in the Crown’s case.

Boulette’s friend testified at a preliminary hearing but was targeted with threats from a number of Nash’s co-accused, making it uncertain whether he would be available or willing to testify at a trial, Davidson said.

“He was scared beyond belief and immediately fled the jurisdiction,” he said.

Nash was not involved in any plan to kill Boulette, “but accepts he was associating with the wrong kind of people at that point in his life,” said defence lawyer Saul Simmonds.” His involvement in that level of violence was startling to him.”

While in custody, Nash has immersed himself in rehabilitative and religious programs, Simmonds said.

“He has taken every step to make amends with his maker, as it were,” he said.

Nash told court he wants to help kids stay away from gangs and drugs.

“I don’t want to just say sorry, but prove it through my actions upon release,” he said.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca