2 men given 10-year sentences for 'egregious' beating death of fellow inmate at Stony Mountain Institution

Family members of a man who died after being beaten at Stony Mountain Institution last year applauded as his killers were given 10-year prison sentences in a Winnipeg courtroom Thursday.

Tristan Storm Fisher, 21, of Selkirk, and Carl Jessie Klyne, 24, of Swan River were both charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Lewis Sitar, 50, who was found unresponsive in his cell in February 2017.

Both Fisher and Klyne were inmates at Stony Mountain at the time of the assault.

Under a joint recommendation between Crown and defence lawyers, Fisher and Klyne pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter Thursday.

In an agreed statement of facts, court heard Fisher and Klyne followed Sitar into his cell, where the pair assaulted the victim over the span of roughly 45 seconds on the evening of Feb. 20, 2017.

Court heard guards later found Sitar unresponsive and face down on the floor of his cell, with blood around his head. He was rushed to hospital in critical condition, where he died of his injuries on March 3.

An autopsy found Sitar died of blunt trauma to the head.

Under the joint recommendation, both the Crown and defence called for 10-year sentences for both Fisher and Klyne in connection to Sitar's death.

Justice Brenda L. Keyser called the killing "egregious" and agreed with the recommended sentence. Klyne's sentence was reduced by 639 days due to the time he's already spent in custody.

"There doesn't appear to be any particular reason why this older gentleman was targeted by these two," said Keyser in her decision.

"It's aggravating that it was an attack by two-on-one and it was [in] a prison setting."

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