BATTLEFORD, Sask. — A woman who told neighbours she had killed a man, instructed them to call police, and said she would “be sitting by the body” was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison.
Doreen Oseemeemow, 38, also accused Robert Dumais of being a sexual abuser before and after the January 2024 killing on Big Island Lake Cree Territory, telling others she had “taken a rapist off the street” and “took a bad man off the street.”
Oseemeemow was sentenced by Justice Brenda Hildebrandt in Battleford Court of King’s Bench on Oct. 1, following a joint submission from Crown and defence counsel. With enhanced credit for 548 days of pre-sentence custody — calculated at 1.5 to 1 — totalling 822 days, she has 1,003 days left to serve, or just under two years and nine months.
Oseemeemow was initially charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. After Dumais died, the charge was upgraded to second-degree murder. She pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter on June 23 and was found not guilty of second-degree murder.
Dumais was 60 years old when he died in hospital on Jan. 18, 2024, after being found unconscious at his home on Jan. 2, 2024.
The offence
Crown prosecutor Chris Browne told the court that one or two days before the offence, Oseemeemow had kicked Dumais out of his residence because he wasn’t a band member. Oseemeemow felt the house belonged to her family.
On Jan. 2, 2024, Oseemeemow had been drinking and consuming drugs at her home. She said she was going to hurt Dumais because she wanted her house back, threatened to burn the house down if she couldn’t get it back, and accused Dumais of sexually abusing people.
Oseemeemow took a knife from the sink and went to Dumais’s residence, where she attacked him. Court heard there was blood in the living room and bedrooms. Dumais suffered blunt force and sharp force injuries, including lacerations to his neck and scalp, and a traumatic brain injury.
A bloody knife was found outside the home. Between 10 and 30 minutes later, Oseemeemow returned to her home with blood on her hands and shoes, saying she had hurt Dumais, that he was “gone,” and that he “couldn’t hurt anyone any longer.”
She later returned to Dumais’s home and sat on the couch. A witness went to the residence, saw blood everywhere, and checked on Dumais, who was still breathing. Oseemeemow repeatedly said she was sorry.
Oseemeemow then went to another home and asked the occupants to call police, saying she had killed Dumais and would be “sitting by the body.” She returned to Dumais’s residence and sat on the couch until police arrived.
At around 11 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2024, Pierceland RCMP received two complaints about the incident on Big Island Cree Territory, and that a man required medical attention. Dumais was unconscious and taken to hospital with injuries consistent with being beaten and cut with a knife, according to an RCMP media release in January 2024. He never regained consciousness.
Statements to police
Oseemeemow was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. After he died, the charge was upgraded to second-degree murder.
Browne told the court that during interviews with police, Oseemeemow said she woke up and was being sexually assaulted by Dumais, who had a knife, leading to the altercation.
After Dumais’s death, Oseemeemow was arrested for murder and re-interviewed. She said she wanted Dumais out of his residence, intended to hurt him, and took the knife to his home. She said the altercation started at the entryway and that Dumais tried to take the knife from her. During the altercation, she slashed him with the knife and kicked him in the head. She said she “took a bad man off the street.”
An autopsy determined Dumais’s cause of death was the injuries he sustained during the attack.
Defence and Gladue factors
Defence lawyer Michael Nolin told the court Oseemeemow’s background is marked by severe intergenerational trauma and outlined the Gladue factors.
She is a member of Big Island Lake Cree Territory. Her grandparents on both sides attended residential schools, and her mother was part of the Sixties Scoop. Nolin said the family is linked to Joseph Big Head Day School and Blue Quills Residential School from Saddle Lake.
Drawing on his own early career experience interviewing thousands of residential school survivors, Nolin said the reports in this case reflect what he has heard throughout his 26 years of practice — a cycle of extreme alcohol abuse and predatory people given access to younger family members.
The pre-sentence report said Oseemeemow’s recollection that she was first sexually abused by one of her stepbrothers when she was three or four years old. While living with her grandparents in Alberta, Dumais — her uncle — would babysit the children. Oseemeemow says she was sexually abused by him, as were other family members. The children were told that if they spoke about the abuse, they would be taken away from their grandparents.
Oseemeemow’s mother has been an addict all of Oseemeemow’s life, and among 12 children there are seven fathers. This contributed to Oseemeemow becoming a second mom to 11 younger siblings from about age eight or nine, a role that included protecting them from various men their mother brought into the home.
Oseemeemow started drinking alcohol at age 14 and she was introduced to methamphetamine at age 27. Court heard she has been sober since the time of the offence.
Nolin said Oseemeemow is remorseful, has thrived on her release conditions, has a new partner and a home, and is working on upgrading her education. He said she plans to spend her time in federal prison upgrading her education and hopes to become an addictions worker, to, in her words, “be the person that she needed as a child.”
Joint submission and sentencing
The joint sentencing submission by the Crown and defence was for five years less remand credit, along with a DNA order, a 10-year firearms prohibition, and a forfeiture order.
Browne said there was “significant quid pro quo” with the guilty plea coming on the eve of pre-trial motions after a preliminary hearing in which some witnesses gave versions of events inconsistent with prior evidence. This caused the Crown significant concern, he said.
Manslaughter has an accepted range of four to 12 years, and Browne agreed this sentence was at the lower end. He cited Oseemeemow’s Gladue factors, her positive pre-sentence report, and her willingness to change.
In her sentencing decision, Justice Hildebrandt said she considered the principles of sentencing, the aggravating and mitigating factors, and the Gladue factors. She said Oseemeemow’s criminal record of driving offences isn’t particularly relevant and there is no indication she is prone to violent behaviour.
The judge also addressed the vigilante nature of the offence, saying that while Oseemeemow’s actions may well have been provoked by past conduct on the part of the deceased, vigilante justice can’t be tolerated.
“There is of course a need for deterrence and denunciation,” said Justice Hildebrandt.
The opportunity for Oseemeemow to receive programming that could facilitate her rehabilitation is another objective of sentencing, she said.
“At age 38, Ms. Oseemeemow is able to take considerable proactive steps to overcome the addictions and other underlying issues which have contributed to her conduct.”
Justice Hildebrandt said the joint submission wouldn’t bring the administration of justice into disrepute and wasn’t contrary to public interest.
Nolin requested that the court ask Correctional Service Canada to consider placing Oseemeemow at a healing lodge near Maple Creek, when feasible.
No victim impact statements were provided to the court, said Browne. Dumais’s family was contacted and were aware of the proceedings. They indicated the only information they wished was to know what occurred at the conclusion of sentencing.
“I encourage you, Ms. Oseemeemow, to access the programming available to continue the process of addressing the underlying contributors to your criminal behaviour and to assist in your healing from the abuse you have experienced in your life,” said Justice Hildebrandt.
