Paul First Nation man not guilty of murder

‘Scavenged’ body of friend found in isolated area

A jury on Monday acquitted a Paul First Nation man who was accused of attacking his friend with a tree branch and fatally choking him.

Fraser Mackenzie Rain, 23, was found not guilty of second-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Tyler Enoch Bird, whose body was found scavenged by animals in an isolated area of the reserve in October 2010.

The seven men and five women of the jury also found Rain not guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter after 3-1/2 hours of deliberations.

Rain remained expressionless while the verdict was read to the court. His mother quietly wept in the gallery.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice John Rooke thanked the jury for their service before telling Rain he was free to go.

At trial, the jury heard that Rain, his cousin Darion Anson Rain and Bird spent much of Sept. 30, 2010, drinking rye and coolers.

Violence broke out between the Rain cousins and Bird, Darion Rain testified. He couldn’t remember what the men fought over.

“It was just a fight,” he said. “I don’t know why. I don’t know how.”

Darion Rain said his cousin started the violence by striking Bird on the head with a tree branch while the three men were on a walking trail. The fight continued with the Rain cousins “kicking, punching and choking” Bird while he lay on the ground.

“He did pretty much the same thing I did,” Darion Rain said of his cousin, the accused.

Darion Rain pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Bird’s death in November 2011, the jury was told.

During Darion Rain’s testimony, he claimed the fight ended with Fraser Rain choking Bird. Later, he reversed himself and said he was the one that choked Bird to end the fight. The cousins then dragged Bird’s body off the path and down a hill toward a Paul Band slough in an attempt to keep it from being discovered, according to testimony.

An autopsy on Bird was unable to determine a cause of death because his body had been “extensively scavenged” by wildlife, Crown prosecutor Scott Niblock said.

Bird’s blood was found on a stick near the body. Bird’s wallet and ball cap were also found nearby.

Later that evening, the Rain cousins showed up at a Paul Band home of a friend. That friend testified the cousins told him Bird had been stabbed and they needed a shovel to bury the body. However, in testimony, Darion Rain said no one had stabbed Bird that evening.

Rain was described as “really drunk, wobbly, with slurred speech” and had to be stopped from drinking bleach by a cousin who found him in a basement laundry room in the hours after Bird’s death.

In closing arguments, defence lawyer Anna Konye argued that the Crown had failed to prove the case against her client, partly because of contradictions in Darion Rain’s testimony.

Paul First Nation is 65 kilometres west of Edmonton.