On the morning of Dec. 14, 2021, Arley Cook was found deceased at his home in Black Lake. (Facebook)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

Black Lake manslaughter case proceeds to trial

Apr 1, 2024 | 3:00 PM

A man found dead in the bedroom of his home at Black Lake had blood coming from his nose and mouth area.

That’s according to testimony heard Monday morning at Court of King’s Bench in Prince Albert.

Jerrick Stalthanee, the person alleged responsible for the death of Arley Cook in December, 2021, is facing a charge of manslaughter.

Five days have been set aside for the trial and multiple members of Stalthanee’s family were present in court to support him. As Dene is Stalthanee’s first language, a special interpreter has also been provided for him.

Stephanie Lavallee is the Crown Prosecutor handling the case and her first witness was RCMP Sgt. Douglas Nordick who testified that on the night of Dec. 13, 2021, Stalthanee and Cook had been drinking together at the residence where Stalthanee lived, and an altercation occurred. Cook was found dead the following morning at his own house, which was located just a short distance away.

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In addition to being the crime scene manager of the house where Stalthanee lived, Sgt. Nordick also helped supervise the photos that were taken in the days following Cook’s death.

Over 200 photographs were shared for those in the courtroom. From those images, red blood stains were captured on a number of items including a steak knife; the throttle on a snowmobile; the exterior of a small stereo; a black and white bandana; and on the wall of one of the bedrooms.

Nordick confirmed however that none of the human blood stains were matched to Cook. He did however mention that police had been told a tea pot found in the kitchen area had been used during the alleged altercation between Stalthanee and Cook, and it was sent away for testing. At this stage of the trial the results of that testing are not known.

Defence lawyer Peter Abrametz Jr. questioned Sgt. Nordick how it was that there was none of Cook’s blood splatter found at the scene, given the fact he was later found “covered in blood.”

To this Sgt. Nordick replied the assumption that there would be blood splatter found at the scene is incorrect and explained there’s a number of factors involved including the weapon used, amount of physical force or the victim’s medical history.

Sgt. Nordick then went to cite a homicide case he had worked on where the person died from a single blow and there was no blood splatter found.

In addition to the police witnesses, a number of civilian witnesses are also expected to testify this week including a man who allegedly witnessed the altercation between Stalthanee and Cook. And later this week both a forensic and neuro-pathologist are expected to provide their own testimony.

Stalthanee, who was recently convicted for a gun related incident in Prince Albert and granted time served, is not in custody.

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell