OSOYOOS TIMES-October 6, 2010

By Paul Everest – Osoyoos Times

The man who swung an axe at former Osoyoos councillor Allan Carswell one year ago was found guilty on Sept. 29 of assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Carswell was winterizing his boat with his wife at the Haynes Point Provincial Park boat launch on Sept. 22, 2009, when Louis Joseph Lemay, 51, approached him and swung an axe at him.
Carswell was not seriously injured and only received a few scratches to his face.
He was able to restrain Lemay until police arrived and the suspect was arrested minutes after the attack.
A witness to the attack who asked not to be identified told the Osoyoos Times after the attack that Lemay appeared when Carswell was pulling his boat out of the water.
Lemay said hello and then began complaining about being homeless and followed Carswell around as he was checking the boat on its trailer, the witness said.
After Carswell said it was time for him and his wife to leave, Lemay pulled a hatchet from his backpack and swung it at Carswell’s face.
The witness said Carswell was able to deflect the weapon with his hands.
Carswell received a few scratches to his nose but was not seriously injured, the witness said.
After Lemay swung the hatchet again, Carswell was able to get hold of his arms.
The two men struggled before Carswell was able to pin him in some bushes.
The witness said women in a nearby parking lot heard calls for help and one of them called the police on her cellphone.
The park’s caretakers and several other people arrived shortly after and eventually Lemay stopped struggling and Carswell was able to let go and walk away.
Police arrived about five minutes later.
Following the attack, police said they were concerned in the days leading up to Lemay’s confrontation with Carswell that Lemay might target someone in the community in retaliation for recent problems in his life.
Cpl. Jason Bayda, a spokesman for the Osoyoos-Oliver RCMP, said that several days prior to the attack, police received a call that Lemay was attempting to enter the U.S. at the Osoyoos border crossing but was turned away.
After he was turned away, Bayda said, some of the suspect’s writings were found at the border and were passed along to police.
The writings included comments that Lemay was upset with some people in Osoyoos who had done him wrong, namely the RCMP.
The witness to the attack said Lemay blamed Carswell for his eviction from Desert Park in the summer of 2009.
Carswell is the president of the South Interior Equine Recreational Centre (SIREC), which currently runs the park.
Members of SIREC told the Times last fall that when members of their organization arrived at the park in March of 2009 to begin revitalization efforts on the grounds, they found Lemay staying in a stall in the main barn.
They said he told them he was a fruit picker.
The members said they had considered allowing Lemay to stay to keep an eye on the facility when no one else was around in case of fire or theft.
They described him as tidy and said he had been in Osoyoos for at least 12 years.
At first SIREC allowed him to move into to a shed until he found a picking job but he allegedly became abusive with SIREC members.
Eventually the Town insisted that he leave the property, leading to an incident with a bylaw officer and police on June 30, 2009, where Lemay was charged with uttering threats.
Lemay was found guilty on that charge on Sept. 22, 2010.
A Penticton provincial court judge convicted Lemay on Sept. 29 for the weapons and assault charges after hearing testimony from Carswell, Lemay and Bayda.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 24 for all three charges, but in the meantime he has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment.
In an email interview, Carswell said “The conviction gives closure to the event.
“It’s time to move on and forget it.”
The past year, he added, has been “unsettling” for his family.
“When the windows of your house look out at where someone missed killing you by (half-an) inch, it’s hard not to replay the event in your mind over and over.”
Carswell said he and his wife are moving from Osoyoos.
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