BRUTAL MURDER NETS LIFE SENTENCE

Ed Diakew will serve a life sentence for the brutal murder of a
marijuana grower whose operation he planned to steal.

The 47-year-old Kelowna man pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree
murder at the start of his trial. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Alison
Beames agreed with lawyers and sentenced him to life in prison without
parole eligibility for 15 years.

Diakew, a career criminal convicted of 18 robberies, stood stone-faced
in the prisoner's box as Beames pronounced punishment. She called the
murder "brutal and horrifying."

Diakew, a tall, powerful man, shot Tim Veinot three times in the head,
stabbed him 16 times and beat him with his fists, feet, a apiece of
lumber and a fireplace poker in Veinot's home on April 19, 2005. He
drove his van to a remote spot south of Penticton, torched it and fled
to the U.S.

Police nabbed him four months later in Burlington, Wash., and sent him
to the Canadian border, where RCMP arrested him. He admitted to
authorities he killed Veinot.

The drama began a day after Diakew was evicted from Scott Johnson's
house. Diakew worked part-time for Johnson, who owned and operated a
motorcycle repair shop on McCurdy Road.

Johnson owned part of a grow-op with Claude Stephenson and Marion
Ottenbreit, who lived 100 metres from Veinot's house said Crown counsel
Dave Ruse. Veinot and his roommate, Ron Fazakas, looked after their own
grow-op.

At 11 a.m. April 19, Diakew drove his van to Stephenson's house and
asked Stephenson to escort him to Veinot's home. Diakew told him he
"was taking over" Veinot's grow-op, Ruse said.

When Fazakas answered the door, Diakew told him he was taking the
crop, but Fazakas would get his share of the proceeds. He told Fazakas
to return to clipping marijuana buds in the basement and he'd wait for
Veinot to come home.

Veinot, 43, and his girlfriend, Daneille Vedan, showed up 20 minutes
later.

Veinot unlocked the door and took a few steps into the house when
Diakew shot him in the head with a revolver. Veinot grabbed his
forehead and started screaming.

Vedan fled to her car, but heard more gunshots and thumping noises.
Veinot was screaming, "What are you doing, man?" and "What's this all
about?"

Vedan looked in a window and saw Diakew bent over and punching Veinot.
Diakew told her to leave.

Even though he heard gunshots and scuffling sounds, Fazakas stayed
downstairs until Diakew called him. Veinot was sitting on the couch
with his head tilted back, struggling to breathe. Diakew told Fazakas
to tell Vedan to leave.

Fazakas fled, but Vedan refused to leave without Veinot. She waited
outside, and when Diakew emerged, with blood on his face, hands and
clothes, he told her "Tim will be OK" and that he'd get him to call
her.

Vedan drove off and returned to the house that night. She was too
scared to enter, but kicked in the door hours later. Veinot was dead
on the floor next to a broken coffee table. She called police.

An autopsy determined none of the .22-calibre bullets penetrated
Veinot's brain. His face had massive injuries, including a broken jaw.
Wood splinters were in his face.

The 16 stab wounds were to the chest, but he had defensive wounds to
his hands and his left forearm was broken. He died of blood loss, a
pathologist concluded.

Defence lawyer Wade Jenson said Veinot had assaulted Stephenson and
held a knife to Fazakas' throat shortly before the murder. He said
Veinot was "unpredictable, with a reputation for extreme violence."

"I totally regret putting myself in that situation and the outcome of
that situation," Diakew told the judge. "There's nothing I can do to
bring him back. All I can do is say I'm sorry."