Saskatoon men sentenced to 10 years in ‘Ed’ Swift killing

James 'Ed' Swift (Source: Facebook.com/robingravez)

Two men convicted of manslaughter and aggravated assault have each been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the killing of a man and the stabbing of a woman.

Justice Michael Tochor handed down the sentences Friday in the Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench to Ashtin Ritzand and Colton Lischka.

The pair were convicted last year in the death of James Swift and the stabbing of Virginia Belhumeur.

Court heard Swift and Belhumeur were stabbed multiple times in the early morning hours of Aug. 29, 2022, after a dispute over cocaine turned violent on the outskirts of Saskatoon. Belhumeur was left at the side of a rural road with Swift and later flagged down a passing vehicle. Swift died of his injuries.

Court heard the victims and the accused met by chance hours earlier in an off-sale parking lot. A third man, Anthony Burley, who has since been sentenced, was also there. That evening, Swift accused Burley of backing his vehicle into him. The men later made amends, drank together and went to buy cocaine.

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The main point of contention as the group drove near Penner Road and Rural Road 3050 was over who was holding the cocaine, which Swift largely paid for, court heard.

Justice Michael Tochor ruled in October that there were too many unknowns in the evidence, reducing the charges from second-degree murder and attempted murder to manslaughter and aggravated assault. The ruling also required the court to sentence the men without determining who stabbed Swift.

During sentencing arguments earlier this month, the Crown argued for a sentence of 10 to 12 years, with defence lawyers arguing for sentences of four and five years for Lischka and Ritzand.

Tochor said an appropriate sentence was eight years for manslaughter and four years for aggravated assault, for a total of 12 years. He reduced the aggravated assault sentence to two years after applying the totality principle, which requires judges to ensure the combined sentence is not unduly harsh and reflects the overall seriousness of the offenses, resulting in a 10-year sentence.