Killer’s father outs witnesses as ‘rats’

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This article was published 06/04/2023 (939 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Tron Gamblin took to Facebook and outed two women whose testimony in court helped convict his son of murder, he condemned them to a lifetime of fear and “looking over their shoulder,” a court was told this week.

Gamblin was cited for contempt of court after he purposely violated a publication ban that protected the identities of two women who had testified at the trial of his son, Jesse Gamblin. He had been convicted last October of second-degree murder in the September 2019 killing and torture of 28-year-old Norma Andrews.

In posts made to Tron Gamblin’s Facebook page June 22, four weeks after his son’s trial ended, Gamblin identified the two protected witnesses by name, called them “rats” and in the case of one woman said, “If (she) isn’t dead, she deserves to be.”

Assurances from justice officials that a witness’s identity will be kept safe will mean nothing if people like Gamblin wilfully ignore court-ordered publication bans, said Crown attorney Rustyn Ullrich, who urged King’s Bench Justice Brenda Keyser to sentence Gamblin to 3½ years in prison.

“We aren’t just talking about their identities, it’s the veiled, almost calls to action (included in the posts),” Ullrich said.

“What’s very clear from these comments by Mr. Gamblin is either he is hoping something happens or this is a dog whistle-like situation where he is hoping someone sees this and someone with his backwards way of thinking takes up his call to arms.”

Should either of the women come to harm one day, it may be impossible to determine if it was as a result of Gamblin’s posts, or some unrelated reason, Ullrich said.

“The harm done to these women, we don’t know, and we won’t know,” he said.

“These poor women have to walk around now looking over their shoulder because Mr. Gamblin couldn’t keep his hands off his keyboard long enough.”

“These poor women have to walk around now looking over their shoulder because Mr. Gamblin couldn’t keep his hands off his keyboard long enough.”–Crown attorney Rustyn Ullrich -

Disturbingly, Gamblin’s Facebook posts included photographs of the cover pages of each woman’s police statement, something Gamblin should never have been able to access, Ullrich said.

“How on earth he got ahold of those cover pages is still unknown to the Crown, and I’ll be frank, that is a big problem,” he said. “Somebody really dropped the ball here for him to have access to those.”

Woman attacked as she slept

Court heard evidence at Jesse Gamblin’s trial that he attacked Andrews as she slept at a Balmoral Avenue drug house, saying she was a “rat” and “deserved to die.”

The Crown’s case against Gamblin relied heavily on the testimony of the two female witnesses who were in the house at the time of the killing.

An autopsy found Andrews bled to death after receiving multiple “sharp force” and “blunt force” injuries to her head, neck, back and arms. Andrews had been beaten with a bat, strangled, and two of her fingers were cut off.

The fatal wound, a long, deep cut to her neck that severed her carotid artery, “was consistent with having been inflicted by a machete,” chief medical examiner Dr. John Younes testified.

Jesse Gamblin is still awaiting sentencing in the killing. At the time of his arrest, he was on bail for a machete attack on a female friend who had been sleeping. He was convicted of aggravated assault in October 2020 and sentenced to four years in prison.

Disrupted court proceedings

Defence lawyer Brett Gladstone said Tron Gamblin’s “misguided” actions were the result of his genuine belief his son was not guilty of killing Andrews and fears he would be “railroaded by those in charge.”

“At the time he thought what he was doing was right. He does not hold that view today,” said Gladstone, who urged Keyser to sentence Gamblin to no more than 12 months in custody, preferably as a conditional sentence served in the community.

Keyser said any suggestion Gamblin is remorseful rings hollow.

“I don’t think he is remotely remorseful,” she said. “I think he’s only remorseful for having been caught… I am not impressed or happy with Mr. Gamblin and his behaviour.”

”At the time he thought what he was doing was right. He does not hold that view today.”–Defence lawyer Brett Gladstone

Gamblin was disruptive throughout his son’s court proceedings.

On April 15, 2020, the same day Jesse Gamblin was convicted of aggravated assault for his machete attack on a friend, father and son outed two witnesses as “rats” on Facebook. No publication bans were in place and no charges were laid in connection to the Facebook posts.

At a June 2021 preliminary hearing for his son’s murder case, Tron Gamblin repeatedly disrupted the testimony of the Crown’s sole witness, resulting in him being banned from the courtroom.

Two weeks after the preliminary hearing was over, Gamblin posted the witness’s name on Facebook alongside a photo of his police statement transcript.

Police did not discover the post until after the subsequent post involving the two female witnesses came to light last June.

At his son’s murder trial last May, Gamblin’s repeated outbursts led to him being banned from the courthouse for the balance of the trial.

In court Monday, Gamblin apologized “for the fearful atmosphere that I created.”

“I didn’t address this properly,” he said. “I let my anger get to me… This is coming from my heart: I truly am sorry.”

Tron Gamblin, who remains in custody, will be sentenced at a later date.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca