Men ‘fess up after star witness testifies

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This article was published 08/02/2022 (1361 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After two hours of damning testimony from the Crown’s star witness, a second-degree murder trial for two Berens River First Nation men came to an abrupt end Tuesday.

Gerald Patrick, 46, and his cousin Timothy Patrick, 31, stood accused of beating 39-year-old Kevin Kennedy to death with a baseball bat outside Gerald Patrick’s house trailer on Nov. 16, 2019.

After Kennedy’s then-girlfriend April Semple provided eyewitness testimony of the attack, the two accused returned from the lunch break Tuesday with an agreement to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Prosecutors accepted the pleas on the agreement Kennedy was beaten with a baseball bat, but it could not be proven which of the accused wielded the weapon, Crown attorney Dan Angus told court.

Had the trial continued, conflicting evidence from other witnesses may have reduced the likelihood of conviction on the murder charge, Angus said.

The two men will return to court for sentencing submissions on Thursday. Lawyers for the Crown and defence will jointly recommend the men be sentenced to eight years in prison.

Semple testified she and Kennedy were attending a party at Gerald Patrick’s home when Patrick allegedly disclosed he had sexually assaulted someone, prompting Kennedy to strike him in the face.

Semple said she was in her car preparing to leave with Kennedy a short time later when she turned to see Kennedy walking out of the trailer, closely followed by the two accused and another man who is not facing prosecution.

Semple said Gerald Patrick appeared to be holding a weapon as all three men delivered blows to Kennedy’s head, knocking him to the ground.

Semple ran out of the car and covered Kennedy’s body with her own as one of the men said: “Break his legs, break his legs.”

Semple said she saw Timothy Patrick holding a baseball bat and tried to grab it from him, without success. When she punched Timothy Patrick in the face, all three men laughed at her before returning to the trailer, she said.

After Semple screamed for help, four people, including the uncharged man, helped her lift Kennedy into a car.

Kennedy was taken to the local nursing station, then to Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre where he later died.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca