A La Ronge man will spend significant time in prison after being sentenced for manslaughter.
Kurt Ratt pleaded guilty in September to the May 17, 2022 killing of Eric Bouchard on Bells Point Road.
An agreed statement of facts concluded that following the fatal shooting, Ratt and another person dragged Bouchard to a nearby lake, attempting to submerge him by weighing him down with a sandbag. Yet RCMP, who responded to the call of gunshots, located Bouchard. The officer was able to pluck him from the lake, where Bouchard was transported to hospital, later succumbing to injuries.
The investigation determined that Ratt and another person went to a home, where Bouchard and another man were repairing a vehicle. Ratt and Bouchard began arguing before the shooting took place.
“I am able to conclude that the other two men, including Mr. Bouchard, were minding their own business (repairing a vehicle) when Mr. Ratt and his companion came onto that property and got into an argument with the two occupants. This is not a home invasion case, but it is broadly similar. Perhaps if Mr. Ratt and his companion had been minding their own business and had not entered that yard, for whatever reason, this would not have happened and Mr. Bouchard would be alive,” Justice Richard Danyliuk wrote.
With time served, Ratt has 12.5 years remaining on his sentence.