A manslaughter trial will not go ahead in Lethbridge court.
Stanley Troy Big Sorrel Horse has instead pleaded guilty to manslaughter, admitting he was party to the offence that led to Rance Bear Hats’ death.
The trial was supposed to begin on Monday, but Big Sorrel Horse didn’t appear in court.
He turned himself into the Lethbridge Police Service on Monday evening.
On Tuesday, his lawyer Tracy Hembroff and Crown prosecutor Michael Fox informed the judge a resolution had been made in the case and offered a joint submission to the court.
In early 2018, Blood Tribe police responded to reports of a man in distress in Stand Off, Alta., which is located on the Blood Reserve southwest of Lethbridge.
Rance Bear Hat was transported to Chinook Regional Hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later. His death was determined to be homicide.
In October 2019, a second-degree murder charge was replaced with manslaughter. Big Sorrel Horse elected to have his case heard by a judge alone.
Then, on what would have been day two of his trial, Big Sorrel Horse changed his plea to guilty.
In an Agreed Statement of Facts (ASF), the court heard an altercation broke out at a home in Stand Off between multiple people, which ended in Bear Hat suffering a single, fatal stab wound.
A resident in Stand Off called police after a man banged on the front door of his home, then collapsed.
Police arrived and saw a large pool of blood under Bear Hat and a blood trail leading to a nearby house.
Police could see a wound in the left side of his chest. EMS arrived and transported Bear Hat, who was in cardiac arrest, to hospital, where he was declared dead.
An autopsy determined the cause of death was a single stab wound that lacerated the left lung, left pericardium and heart.
The report also detailed bruises and injuries indicating Bear Hat had been in at least one altercation before his death.
The ASF also said Big Sorrel Horse, another man, and Bear Hat got into a fight, then Big Sorrel Horse and the other man left the residence. Then, the accused returned a short time later and that’s when another altercation involving multiple people occurred, leading to the fatal stab wound.
The ASF also said it’s uncertain whether it was Big Sorrel Horse or any of the others involved in the altercation who caused the fatal stab wound, but Big Sorrel Horse acknowledges his actions make him responsible for Bear Hats’ death.
Big Sorrel Horse has been sentenced to three years behind bars, but with credit for time already served in pre-trial custody, he has 10 months of his sentence left. He began serving his sentence immediately.