Chief offered money to witness, court hears
Testimony in another trial showed Shelley Marie Sabattis, 56, sent $4,500 in e-transfers last fall to victim’s mother to convince her not to testify against Winton Labelle Walter Saulis, 36
A court decision convicting a capital-region man of a brutal instance of domestic violence last week shed some light on a bribery charge against a prominent First Nation leader in the area.
Fredericton provincial court Judge Scott Brittain convicted Winton Labelle Walter Saulis, 36, of no fixed address, Friday of assaulting Chanel Sabattis with a knife, unlawfully entering her home, unlawfully confining her and threatening to harm her father, all at the victim’s Bilijk (Kingsclear) First Nation residence Dec. 18, 2021.
The judge remanded Saulis again pending sentencing, which he scheduled for Nov. 25.
In rendering his decision on the case, Brittain made reference to much of the evidence he heard at trial, and among those details was information that touched upon another related prosecution.
The RCMP charged Chief Shelley Marie Sabattis, 56, of the Welamukotuk (Oromocto) First Nation with a count of bribery.