Teen charged with manslaughter in death of hunting guide

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This article was published 26/07/2015 (3187 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RCMP charged a suspect with manslaughter in the slaying of a well-liked hunting guide from South Indian Lake in northern Manitoba.

Vernon Robert Baker, 18, was arrested and faced formal charges at a court appearance in Thompson Monday, RCMP said a few hours after Baker’s court appearance.

The arrest comes of the heels of an RCMP investigation into the weekend killing of hunting and fishing guide Mark Dumas, 27, from South Indian Lake, about 130 kilometres northwest of Thompson near Leaf Rapids.

Dumas guided every year at the Big Sand Lake Resort, which is owned by the community. His body was found July 23 on a nearby island.

People in the community told the Free Press over the weekend that a suspect had been arrested.

South Indian Lake is the main settlement of O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation.

“(Dumas) comes back every year with us. He was a really, really nice young man, very helpful, really well-liked by staff,” said Linda McKerchar, the resort’s office manager.

Dumas was also very popular with guests, she said.

“We have a lot of repeat guests, and they would specifically ask for Mark as their guide,” said McKerchar. “He was a real kind of gentle soul.”

Dumas’s mother declined comment. The First Nation’s chief, Chris Baker, had yet to release a public statement Monday.

A relative said the family has five daughters and another son.

“He was a good kid,” the relative said of Dumas.

McKerchar said people associated with the lodge are shocked.

“It’s usually the same people who come back here year after year, so it’s like losing one of the family,” said McKerchar. “Mark was never a fighting or confrontational person.”

South Indian Lake was flooded in the 1970s by Manitoba Hydro’s Churchill River Diversion, forcing the relocation of the community.