The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A former Flin Flon man stands accused of a murder in Pukatawagan. Benjamin Melvin Dumas, 23, has been charged with second degree murder in the death of Patrick Bighetty, 26. Also charged in the killing is Donald Wayne Colomb, 25, of Pukatawagan. Both men were scheduled to appear in The Pas Provincial Court this morning. Last Wednesday, August 26, Pukatawagan RCMP responded to a complaint of an injured male at a residence on the northern reserve. Upon arrival, police and EMS personnel discovered Bighetty, a resident of Pukatawagan, deceased. His death was ruled a homicide. The investigation continues with the assistance of the RCMP Serious Crime and Major Crime Units, as well as the Winnipeg RCMP Forensic Identification Section. Dumas is originally from Pukatawagan but had lived in Flin Flon, where he was once charged in connection with a vicious beating and robbery on Hapnot Street. In March 2005 he was arrested after a Flin Flon man was severely beaten with a wooden shovel handle by one suspect while the other used a serrated knife to cut the victim's scalp and threatened to kill him. Dumas pleaded not guilty and eventually had his charges dropped. He is the second former Flin Flonner accused of a murder in Pukatawagan in recent months. Morris Brian Francois, 30, was charged with second degree murder after his uncle, 44-year-old Ernest Hunter, was found dead inside his residence May 1. Francois was previously convicted of starting a Flin Flon home full of people on fire in June 2005. According to police, he maintained that he never meant to ignite a fire after flicking lit matches in and around the rental home. Francois's actions started an attached shed ablaze and led to a smaller fire in the basement, putting the lives of seven occupants in danger.
