Ste Anne man found guilty of aggravated assault, uttering threats

Ste Anne resident Dallas Funk, 27, was found guilty of aggravated assault and uttering threats to cause death in a Winnipeg courtroom on Tuesday morning.

Judge Larry Allen found Funk guilty of the assault on 65-year-old Guy Tetreault after coming to Tetreault’s house on Jan. 15, 2023, with his brother Darcy, 26. He came to the house to pick up his brother’s dog Ozzy from Darcy’s estranged girlfriend, Harlee.

The court heard Darcy had been told not to come to the house and that he was not welcome. He arrived anyway with Dallas and when Darcy approached Tetreault on the deck the two got into a fight falling to the ground after Tetreault took a swing at Darcy. Darcy called to his brother for help. That’s when Dallas came out of the truck and started kicking and punching the victim in the ribs on one side while Darcy beat him on the other.

When Harlee saw Darcy and Dallas beating her father, she reached for a bat that was by the door. When she went out to stop the two men, Dallas grabbed the bat and said to her, “Harlee, you are going to die tonight.”

He then began thrusting the bat at Tetreault’s head, striking him on the forehead and the back of the head as well as on the ribs. During his trial, Darcy told his brother to stop hitting Tetreault after he saw Tetreault start to bleed, according to the victim’s testimony. Dallas then had the victim in a headlock with one arm and held the bat in the other. When the victim was able to free himself he tried to push Dallas off the deck.

Tetreault was transported to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg for treatment of two broken ribs, a collapsed lung, cuts to his head, and a concussion.

During Dallas’ trial he told the court he didn’t know there was animosity between Harlee and Darcy. He claimed that he drove his brother to the Tetreaults because he thought they were going out to eat. He said he saw Tetreault hit Darcy with his fist and Darcy went down. Dallas then said he then saw the victim go into the house and get the bat and swing it at Darcy’s head making contact. However the judge didn’t agree with his statement saying this would have knocked out or disabled Darcy. Dallas said Tetreault tried to push him off the deck railing where he raised his legs and kicked the victim’s chest causing damage to his ribs. The judge didn’t find this plausible given the railing height and the position of the two men.

Dallas said he was coming to the defence of his brother when he ran onto the deck and kicked the legs out from under Tetreault causing him to fall and hit his head on a deck post, which Crown attorney Jonathan Mays said that testimony couldn’t account for the two cuts to the head on two planes and the judge agreed noting the shape of the injuries were consistent with a bat. The Crown also argued that the two men, who are bigger and younger than Tetreault, wouldn’t see the victim as a threat. Allan didn’t believe Dallas’ account that the two men suffered injuries as neither man went to the hospital and neither reported any injuries to police.

“When asked why he didn’t just leave the deck he replied he couldn’t because Guy Tetreault was so fast. Guy Tetreault is 5’6” and 65 years old. I find it hard to accept that two young men couldn’t escape if they wanted to,” said Allen.

As to the charge of uttering threats, Dallas denied he threatened Harlee. Allen believed the evidence of the three Crown witnesses that he threatened Harlee’s life.

Dallas said multiple times during his testimony that he feared for his life, which the judge found to be disingenuous.

“I do not believe the testimony of the accused. I found the accused evidence implausible in context of all the evidence heard in this case. The accused used the expression, “I feared for my life” over 10 times in his testimony,” said Allen.

“The overuse of this statement was consistent to his combative response to cross examination and his clear adjustment of his answers to advance his agenda that he was acting in self-defence.”

Sentencing is expected to be scheduled later after a Gladue report on the effects of Dallas’ Indigenous history is included in a pre-sentence report due in November. A mischief charge was dropped by the Crown.

Darcy, 26, was found guilty of aggravated assault in a Steinbach courtroom on May 31. His sentence has yet to be delivered. This charge can carry a 14-year prison sentence.

Dallas’ father, Gerald, was also charged in the matter after he got confrontational with police after they came to arrest Darcy and Dallas. Gerald pleaded guilty to obstruction of a peace officer on March 22 and received a $350 fine.

-With files from Chris Gareau.