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Sentencing set for Yk gun thief

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Mandy Goulet faces 10 months for repeatedly stabbing her partner with a kitchen knife in an aggravated assault. NNSL file photoNNSL file photo

A Yellowknife man who stole multiple firearms from a city home before leading RCMP on a
weeks-long manhunt is set to be sentenced this summer.

Beau Desire-Tesar, 33, pleaded guilty in May to swiping guns, jewelry and other values ⁠– ranging from diamonds and binoculars to knives ⁠– from a Rivett Crescent residence on Thanksgiving Day in 2018.

Four days after the theft, Yellowknife RCMP issued a warrant for Desire-Tesar’s arrest.
Police made multiple public appeals in the hopes of locating the then-31-year-old.
The manhunt finally ended in November 2018, when Mounties arrested Desire-Tesar in Westlock, Alta.

Several guns worth more than $5,000 were stolen from the uptown residence on Oct. 8, court documents show.

Two 12-gauge shotguns, along with a rifle valued at $1,650, were among the pilfered firearms, according to an affidavit signed by the lawful owner.

The firearms, stowed in various gun safes, were locked in the garage of the residence when they were stolen, the victim of the theft stated.

Another Yellowknife man, thirty-eight-year-old Francois Parisella, was charged with possessing items stolen from the Rivett Crescent home during the Thanksgiving Day theft.
Yellowknife RCMP found some of the swiped items, including firearms and gun cases, in a storage unit rented by Parisella one day after the theft occurred.

Parisella fought the charges in court, taking the case to trial in November. He denied any involvement with the theft.

Prosecutors argued Parisella told Desire-Tesar about the unit so the stolen items would be moved from Parisella’s garage.

Testifying in his own defence, he said he had no idea how the items ended up the storage unit.

Parisella testified Desire-Tesar showed up at his house on the day of the Thanksgiving theft. He said Desire-Tesar told him he’d been partying at the Rivett Crescent home and that his car had gotten stuck in the driveway. Obliging Desire-Tesar’s request, Parisella said used his partner’s lime green truck to tow the car away.

Police later tied the truck to the firearms theft, which eventually led them to Parisella’s storage unit. Mounties staked out the locker before arresting Parisella at the scene on Oct. 12, 2018.

In December, Judge Garth Malakoe rejected Parisella’s testimony, instead concluding the Parisella knew Desire-Tesar had stolen the items and that “Desire-Tesar would either personally move these items to the storage locker or arrange to have others move these items to the storage locker.”

Parisella was convicted of possessing property obtained by crime. He’s due to be sentenced in March.

Desire-Tesar will be sentenced on July 16 once he’s completed a residential addictions treatment program in B.C.