Booze-fuelled rage that killed cancer-stricken mom worth 18 years in prison

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/04/2025 (357 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Five years after Roy Dunsford beat his brother to death in an alcohol-fuelled frenzy, his rage claimed the life of another victim — his mother.

Dunsford, 25, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the May 2023 killing of 63-year-old Gillian Dunsford and was sentenced Wednesday to 18 years in prison.

“Other than Mr. Dunsford’s propensity for violence when intoxicated, there is no context or explanation for the killing,” said Court of King’s Bench Justice Chris Martin.

“This situation is yet another senseless tragedy in the seemingly unrelenting and dire record of heartbreaking circumstances of an Aboriginal man killing an Aboriginal woman,” he said.

In 2019, Dunsford was sentenced to three years for manslaughter in the 2018 beating death of his brother and best friend, Ryan Dunsford.

Dunsford had served the custodial portion of his sentence and was still on probation when he killed his mother, whom he lived with on Little Grand Rapids First Nation.

Court heard Gillian Dunsford had just returned home from cancer treatments in 2023 Winnipeg when she started drinking with Roy and another of his brothers.

Sometime later, Roy’s brother left for his sister’s house. Roy, who was intoxicated, followed his brother to the house, where he smashed a television before returning home.

Dunsford’s brother returned to his mother’s house a short time later to find Dunsford stomping on his mother’s face while bracing himself against a wall. Dunsford’s brother told him to stop the attack, and he did.

Paramedics took Gillian Dunsford to the nursing station where she was pronounced dead.

Questioned by police, Dunsford said he had “blacked out” and admitted that he gets “very violent” when he drinks.

An autopsy determined Gillian Dunsford died of blunt force injuries consistent with a crushing injury. She suffered massive internal injuries and fractures to all but one of her ribs.

A pre-sentence report prepared for court says Dunsford was raised in a chaotic and violent home and has struggled with alcohol addiction since he was an adolescent.

“It is well documented in probation supervision records, and acknowledged by (Dunsford) that when he consumes alcohol he is prone to violence,” says the report. “Despite numerous programs and interventions, he has been unable to overcome this addiction to date.”

Gillian Dunsford was “particularly vulnerable,” given her cancer diagnosis and her intoxication, Martin said.

“The beating (Roy Dunsford) inflicted on his mother was severe,” he said. “It may have been quick but clearly, as noted by the severe injuries, many powerful blows were inflicted.”

Dunsford’s probation order included a requirement he abstain from alcohol.

“When he started drinking with his mother that day, he knew that he was a danger to others, regardless of relationship,” Martin said. “That his mother and brother… ignored the risk of drinking with him does not lessen the aggravating nature of this factor.”

Martin said Dunsford’s efforts to overcome his addiction have been hobbled by a lack of family and community supports.

“His ill-fated background, dysfunctional family and impoverished community — described by his counsel as ‘Third World’ — somewhat lessens his blameworthiness,” he said.

Martin rejected a Crown recommendation Dunsford serve half of his sentence instead of the standard one-third before he can be released on parole.

“Mr. Dunsford is very unlikely to be released on full parole when the statutory minimum period is met; his rehabilitation challenges are too great,” Martin said.

Dunsford received credit for time served, reducing his remaining sentence to just over 15 years.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca