Rehabilitation unlikely for man, 24, who killed stranger, executed witness, judge says

A Manitoba man convicted of the unprovoked murder of a stranger and execution-style killing of a witness moments later has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years.

Keith Campbell, 24, was found guilty after trial of two counts of second-degree murder in the January 2023 shooting deaths of Jordan Moosetail and Patrick Bighetty in The Pas.

Campbell, whose record included assault and weapon offences and was on a release order at the time of the killings, has shown no remorse for his actions, which he boasted about in electronic messages later seized by police, Court of King’s Bench Justice Candace Grammond said in a written decision released this month.

Campbell “does not present as an ideal candidate for rehabilitation and it is very difficult to know whether he can be rehabilitated, and if so, to what extent, and when,” Grammond said.

Moosetail, 42, had stepped outside for a smoke around 4 a.m. when he was shot six times near his backyard after a random confrontation with Campbell, then 20, and three of his cousins, two of whom were teenagers.

Bighetty, 37, was walking past the scene in the adjacent alley when Campbell shot him in the head.

“Patrick Bighetty was shot in the temple, such that his shooting was an execution, apparently because he was a potential witness to the murder of Jordan Moosetail,” Grammond said.

Court heard evidence at trial that Campbell and his companions had been hanging out at his aunt’s housing complex the previous night before they left at about 11:20 p.m. in a vehicle driven by one of the teens.

The likely murder weapon, a .22 rifle that was never recovered, and a pistol were used minutes later in a drive-by shooting in which no one was injured. The pistol was later recovered with the fingerprints of one of the teens, identified in court documents as E.C.

The group went to the New Avenue Hotel and drank before leaving around midnight.

They walked into another back lane and encountered a resident, who E.C. threatened to shoot, before the others in the group got him to move along.

The group proceeded to another alley, where the confrontations and shootings occurred.

One of the teens riled up the other group members, mistakenly declaring that someone in the area was filming them, leading to the confrontation with Moosetail.

Campbell was intoxicated at the time of the killing and had been using crack daily, “although his consumption did not appear to interfere with his recollection of the events to which he testified (at trial),” Grammond said.

A pre-sentence report said Campbell has maintained his relationship with criminal associates while in custody, accepted no responsibility for the killings and has been abusive to correctional staff and other inmates.

“I agree with (prosecutors) that (Campbell’s) negative behaviour in custody is suggestive of an ongoing risk of violence,” Grammond said.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca