SASKATOON – Trinity Raynin Harvey Squirrel’s beating death wouldn’t have occurred if it wasn’t for alcohol and drug addictions of the accused Bret Rattlesnake and Cynthia Cheryl Chelsey Swiftwolf, Saskatoon court heard.
Rattlesnake and Swiftwolf were originally charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty Wednesday to the lesser charge of manslaughter in Squirrel’s death. Their trial was previously scheduled to start in June 2024.
“This was a senseless and tragic death,” said Justice Mona Dovell during the sentencing hearing in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench March 6.
Squirrel was hanging out with Shanelle Crowe, Bret Rattlesnake and Cynthia Swiftwolf in Saskatoon the night of April 14, 2022. They were drinking and taking cocaine. Around 10:30 a.m. the next morning, the beating started. A graphic cell phone video of Squirrel being kicked and punched inside a home was played in court.
Rattlesnake sat in the prisoner’s box, not looking up to watch the video evidence.
Warning: Graphic details may be disturbing to some readers
The video showed Squirrel on the floor and not fighting back. There was a pool of blood from his mouth on the floor. He tried to lift his head and was heard groaning. At one point he rolled from his back and onto his side. His head was seen flopping back and forth. Rattlesnake continued to kick and hit him on the head and upper body. Swiftwolf participated.
Crowe was seen sitting on a nearby chair, crying. Rattlesnake asked her, “Why are you crying? He did worse to you.”
A woman’s voice in the background is heard saying, “Look, he is still moving.”
Rattlesnake said, “He’s a piece of (expletive) bum,” and kicked him in the head saying, “Stay down. No one wants you.”
Squirrel groaned.
Rattlesnake complained Squirrel’s blood was on his jeans.
After beating Squirrel, they discussed what to do with him and decided not to take him to hospital. They put him in the back of a van and drove him outside of the city limits, took his cell phone and dumped him in the ditch.
Passersby noticed a body on the side of Highway 7 and called 911. At about 1:15 p.m. on April 15, 2022, Warman RCMP responded to the report of an injured person on Hodgson Road near Highway 7, about five kilometres southwest of Saskatoon.
Squirrel was pronounced deceased shortly after emergency personnel arrived.
RCMP Investigators determined Squirrel had been at a Saskatoon home in the 600 block of Wardlow Road. RCMP Major Crime investigators contacted Saskatoon Police Service Major Crime Section for assistance and both agencies worked on the investigation.
An autopsy revealed that Squirrel died from blunt force trauma to his head and upper body, court heard.
Mother dies year after her son’s death
Squirrel’s mother, Jamie Lee Young died in September 2023, a year after her son’s death. The grief of her son’s death contributed to her own, court heard. Her victim impact statement was read into the court.
“He had a mother who loved him so much. He had a baby who loved him. You didn’t know what kind of person you murdered. You took my son’s life. You took everything.”
Squirrel’s aunt and uncle John Young and Janine Young appeared in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench by telephone on March 6. They provided victim impact statements that were read into the court.
“His life was taken away mercilessly,” read John Young’s statement. “My sister drank herself to death after her son died. She drank every day until her pancreas burst.
“(Trinity) will never get to watch his daughter grow up and graduate.”
Janine Young described Squirrel as the kindest and most respectful young man.
“Sometimes I think this is all a dream but it’s not. It’s real.”
The sentences
Senior Crown Prosecutor Lee Hnatiuk and defence counsel Shea Neudorf for Rattlesnake and Sarah Gryba for Swiftwolf entered a joint sentencing submission, which Justice Dovell accepted.
Rattlesnake, now 29, is the father of two children and there are Gladue factors to consider, Neudorf told the court.
He struggled with addictions and some poverty. He started drinking at about the age of 12 or 13 and did cocaine and meth in his early teens.
At the time of the assault against Squirrel, Rattlesnake was employed at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Saskatoon and working towards becoming the assistant manager.
He was arrested a day after Squirrel’s body was found and has been in custody since. While in jail, he took took parenting courses and obtained a Bible study certificate of completion. Eight pages of courses he took while on remand were entered into the court. Rattlesnake has already started working on his parole plan and has a support system in Alberta, Neudorf told the court.
He wants to be sent to an Alberta prison to be closer to his parents, who have travelled from Alberta to Saskatoon and Regina to visit him in jail. His parents are raising his children.
He knows if he was sober this would never have happened, Neudorf told the court.
“I would like Trinity’s family and friends to know I’m truly sorry for my actions,” Rattlesnake said when Justice Dovell gave him an opportunity to speak. “I wish I could take everything back. I never meant any of this to go as far as it did.”
Rattlesnake was handed a 12-year prison sentence. A total of 1,037 days will be taken off his sentence for the enhanced 1.5 days credit for the 691 days he was in jail on remand. This means he has 3,346 days to serve.
Rattlesnake was ordered to provide his DNA to the National DNA Data Bank and prohibited from owning firearms and weapons for life. He was also ordered not to have any contact with Shanelle Crowe.
As Rattlesnake was being led by deputy sheriffs out of the court room in handcuffs and ankle shackles, he didn’t look at Swiftwolf as he passed her. She was sitting in shackles and handcuffs to the side of the prisoner’s box and was moved into the prisoner’s box after he was led out of the courtroom.
Swiftwolf, now 35, was more involved in Squirrel’s death than Crowe but less than Rattlesnake, Hnatiuk told the court.
Swiftwolf is from Moosomin First Nation, her defence told the court. She has 10 siblings, most of them are in the back row of the gallery, Gryba told the court.
Cynthia Swiftwolf prefers to be called Chelsea. She grew up in her culture in North Battleford and Moosomin and Saulteau First Nations. She was a competitive pow wow dancer. Her mother has been a social worker for 25 years and provided a loving and secure environment for her children.
Gryba told the court that Swiftwolf was sexually assaulted at the age of 14 and the perpetrator never charged.
She was in three abusive relationships herself. While in one, both of her arms were broken.
Drugs and alcohol got her here and if she was sober this would not have happened, said Gryba.
Court heard that Swiftwolf has been a model inmate. She completed a significant amount of programming while on remand and is classified as low risk. She took Bible study courses, as well as drug awareness and other programming in jail. At Pine Grove she has worked in the kitchen and laundry.
Work has always been important to her and she was a medical office assistant for Saskatoon Tribal Council and Saskatchewan Health Authority, court heard. She has five children, two of which Rattlesnake is the father.
Gryba asked the court to endorse a recommendation that Swiftwolf serve some, or all of her sentence, at a healing lodge.
Swiftwolf’s statement was read to the court by her lawyer.
“I am very sorry for the loss and pain I have caused. This tragic event was not intentional. I hope you find it in your heart someday to forgive me.”
Swiftwolf was sentenced to six years, or 2,191 days in prison. A total of 917 days for the 611 days she was in jail on remand was taken off of her sentence. This means she has 1,274 days to serve in prison.
She was ordered to provide her DNA to the National DNA Data Bank, prohibited from owning firearms and weapons for life, and ordered not to have any contact with Shanelle Crowe.
In November 2023, Shanelle Crowe was sentenced to 1,358 days, or 3.7 years in prison on a manslaughter charge.
Squirrel from Fishing Lake
Squirrel was an active member of the Fishing Lake community and a volunteer firefighter for the First Nation’s fire department.
“Trin spent many hours practicing, preparing and just enjoying his time with his team,” said his obituary.
“He was also a member of the First Nations security team during the Covid pandemic. He stayed on security throughout the ordeal and was considered a reliable and dependable source to Fishing Lake security crew.”
The obituary also said that Trin was family oriented and an aspiring artist.
“He chased his dreams of the music industry and was following through. He had so many aspirations of what he wanted to be in his life and the determined young man he was, they were set in motion.
“He had a heart of gold, a kind smile and the utmost respect for people. His positive energy was contagious.”
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