Crown seeks life sentence for convicted shooter

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This article was published 17/12/2019 (2150 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — The Crown has asked a man be sent to prison for life, after he tried to kill a fellow inmate only a week after receiving an 18-year sentence for shooting an RCMP officer.

“(Therae) Racette-Beaulieu is a very dangerous individual,” Crown attorney Grant Hughes told the court Monday. “This type of behaviour has absolutely no place in our society, whether in custody or out… (He) is an individual who needs to be under some form of supervision for the remainder of his life.”

Racette-Beaulieu, 21, has pleaded guilty in Brandon provincial court to attempted murder. On April 29, police were called to Brandon Correctional Centre, after an inmate had been stabbed numerous times with a homemade knife.

Racette-Beaulieu and the victim had recently become cellmates and didn’t really know each other, Hughes said.

In surveillance video played for the court, Racette-Beaulieu and the victim are seen in the common area — Racette-Beaulieu talking to someone in a cell and the victim speaking on a telephone.

Racette-Beaulieu goes back into his cell, comes out moments later and checks the window of a door to see if there are any guards around. Racette-Beaulieu grabs the victim and rips him away from the phone, stabbing him in the back, shoulders and upper chest.

The shank breaks in two pieces, but Racette-Beaulieu continues the attack, punching the victim several times. The victim can be seen trying to pull away and banging on the door, before Racette-Beaulieu backs off and guards come into the room.

The victim was taken to hospital, where he received five staples for a gash on his right arm, Hughes said.

In his statement to police, Racette-Beaulieu said he attacked the victim because the inmate he was speaking to in the cell told him the man was “a rat.”

Racette-Beaulieu said he intended to kill the victim, Hughes said, but he “failed again” — referring to his previous attempted murder conviction for shooting RCMP Cpl. Graeme Kingdon in the back of the head Aug. 29, 2018, near Onanole.

Racette-Beaulieu was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the crime spree that ended in Kingdon being shot. One week later, he stabbed his cellmate.

Racette-Beaulieu told police he didn’t know if he’d ever change his ways, adding he’s easy to get along with unless someone gets on his bad side. He would attack anyone, he told police, and wasn’t worried about increasing his jail time.

“It’s particularly concerning that Mr. Racette-Beaulieu comes across as a calm, rational individual until you actually listen to the words that he’s uttering,” Hughes said. “He doesn’t express any empathy toward the victims.”

Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta reserved her decision, with a sentencing date expected to be set in the new year.

— Brandon Sun