Woman gets seven years for fatally assaulting boyfriend

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This article was published 23/01/2024 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The killing of Brent Wilson, a talented hockey player who mentored young people, and was widely popular in Norway House, left a hole in the community.

“(Loved ones) described him as a kind person who often put others before himself. He was a supportive friend. He was a loving son and father… He was also a skilled hunter, fisherman and highly valued employee of the Whiskyjack Treatment Centre,” wrote provincial court Judge Stacy Cawley as she sentenced his girlfriend to seven years in prison for fatally stabbing him in 2021 in another northern community, Cross Lake.

Cawley wrote that the 30-year-old had been a leader in the Norway House Bruins hockey club.

“Wilson was admired. He had a positive impact on the young people in his community and served as an ambassador for Norway House.”

Leslie Sinclair, 32, who was convicted of manslaughter, was sentenced Jan. 16.

Court was told that she and Wilson were hosting a housewarming party at Sinclair’s trailer on July 16, 2021, when they argued. Sinclair smashed a baseball cleat into Wilson’s face.

Wilson left the party, but Sinclair later attacked him again while at a friend’s house. A bystander intervened and Wilson left.

The next morning, Wilson and Sinclair returned home to Sinclair’s trailer with a group of friends.

After they left, Sinclair, who was intoxicated, picked up a knife and stabbed Wilson in the chest, lacerating a major artery, Cawley wrote.

He collapsed on the steps of her trailer and Sinclair, who was distraught, performed CPR on him after calling for help. Wilson died a short time later.

Sinclair claimed during her testimony that Wilson had been violent to her in the trailer and during their relationship, but the judge rejected her testimony.

“I was convinced by the totality of the evidence that Ms. Sinclair assaulted Mr. Wilson multiple times on the night in question. She was the aggressor,” wrote Cawley.

Sinclair’s lawyers, Crystal Antila and Candace Olson, sought a sentence of two years less a day, to be served on a conditional sentence order in the community.

The lawyers noted Sinclair, who is from Cross Lake First Nation, had successfully been on bail for 30 months and had no criminal record before the slaying.

Sinclair has expressed regret and remorse, Cawley said, and has recently started to address her problem with alcohol while being open to all forms of treatment.

Crown prosecutor Erika Dolcetti had asked for 10 years in prison, considering the fact the slaying was in a domestic context, the use of a weapon, and the earlier violence toward Wilson.

Sinclair will be banned from owning weapons for 10 years after her release, and was ordered to hand over her DNA to law enforcement.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca