Man sentenced to 3 years for random kidnapping that left teen with lost 'sense of trust in all people'

A man who pleaded guilty to abducting a teenage girl off the side of a rural Manitoba road as she walked her dog in 2019 has been sentenced to three years in prison, in a case that went unsolved for years until police came across fingerprint evidence that helped lead them to the culprit.

Hercules Nicholas Chief, who was 21 at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and assault with a weapon for an abduction where he forced a 16-year-old girl into his truck in an isolated area near Landmark, southeast of Winnipeg, cutting her hand with a knife he was brandishing, Manitoba provincial court Judge Herbert Lawrence Allen wrote in a sentencing decision released last week.

Police previously described it as "a completely random kidnapping."

Once the girl was inside the truck, Chief drove off. At one point, he told her, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you," the judge's decision said.

The girl was in the truck for about eight minutes before the vehicle slowed down because of rough road conditions, allowing her to jump out and run through a field to a nearby farmhouse — where the occupant called police to report a girl had shown up "hysterical" and bleeding from her hand.

While the girl gave RCMP a detailed description of her kidnapper, it took years of police work before Chief was confirmed as the culprit. That included DNA evidence, cellphone tracking, interviews with witnesses and ultimately a police lineup where the girl identified Chief, the decision said.

RCMP previously said it was a fingerprint found on a stolen truck from a key witness that led to a breakthrough in the case and Chief's arrest.

The teen previously told court that she'd become "an overwhelmingly anxious person" after the incident and had "lost a sense of trust in all people," the decision said.

Prosecutors had asked for a five-year prison term, while the defence requested a two-year conditional sentence order.

Chief was sentenced to three years for the kidnapping, and one year to be served concurrently for assault with a weapon.

He was also banned from having weapons for 10 years and will serve just over two years of his sentence going forward, after his enhanced credit for the time he's already served in custody is taken into consideration.

Struggles with addiction

The judge's decision said while Chief has been doing "exceedingly well and maintained sobriety" since being released on bail in July 2023 to an alternative justice program for men with intellectual disabilities, a pre-sentence report detailed his struggles with addictions, especially after the death of his foster mother in 2017, when he "tried to cope with his grief by turning to intoxicants." 

At the time of the kidnapping, which the judge described as an incident where Chief "opportunistically preyed on a young female who was vulnerable," he was drinking and using drugs heavily, the decision said.

A school psychology report from when Chief was a teen said he'd been diagnosed with "partial fetal alcohol syndrome" because of exposure to "solvents, alcohol and IV drug in utero," and test results indicated his overall level of cognitive function was in the "extremely below average" range.

Chief was raised by his foster parents since birth. He had no contact with his biological mom and almost none with his biological dad.

Court heard Chief had also been bullied throughout his time in school, which his foster dad believed was because he was Indigenous "in a school setting where that was a rarity."

"Mr. Chief started life with the biological handicap left to him by his mother's addiction. He experienced racism throughout his childhood and never knew his parents. I believe these factors have diminished his responsibility in these crimes and that should be reflected in the ultimate disposition," the judge wrote.

"It is not surprising when these issues result in drug use, chaos and the criminality that flows from that."

The decision said Chief got married in 2019 and has two sons, but does not live with that family and was "going through a marital breakdown" at the time of the kidnapping. He was sentenced in 2022 for assaulting his wife and a peace officer.

The judge said while Chief eventually pleaded guilty to the 2019 offences and showed "significant remorse," he didn't admit what he did when was initially contacted by police about the kidnapping, leading to officers having to use significant time and resources in a lengthy investigation. 

The decision also said Chief was assessed as having a low potential to reoffend. The judge issued an order barring him from contacting the victim while in custody.