WALKER FOUND GUILTY OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER

A jury has convicted Kim Joseph Walker of second degree murder,
recommending that he be given most lenient sentence possible, but his
lawyer plans to appeal the verdict.

Justice Jennifer Pritchard accepted their recommendation sentencing
the 50-year-old Yorkton man to serve the minimum of 10 years in jail
before being eligible for parole.

In an interview following the trial defence counsel Morris Bodnar of
Saskatoon said he will definitely appeal to the Saskatchewan Court of
Appeal. He said the grounds will be "the judge not putting self
defence to the jury and not leaving the option of an acquittal."

Following the verdict, Walker was taken into custody after being
allowed some time with his extended family. He showed the same calm
and impassive demeanour that he had exhibited throughout the trial as
he was taken through a back exit by RCMP officers.

His wife, Elizabeth Walker, later left through the front exit with a
large group of family and friends. As she got into a van she called
James Hayward "a dirty scumbag."

Walker had been charged with first degree murder after firing a
semi-automatic pistol 10 times at 24-year-old James William Hayward
on March 17, 2003, at a house on Agricultural Avenue which Hayward was renting.

Hayward bled to death and a witness testified that five bullets or
parts of bullets from the pistol were found in his body.

Walker's daughter, Jadah, had been taking morphine with Hayward who
was her boyfriend. She was 16 at the time and was addicted to the drug.

Witnesses testified both she and Hayward, a former bodybuilder, had
lost a lot of weight through its use.

The Walker family obtained a Mental Health Act warrant that committed
Jadah Walker to treatment at the Pine Unit of Yorkton Regional Health
Centre for 72 hours, but she had friends bring her to Hayward at his
home shortly after her release.

Walker then took a gun to Hayward's home and shot the man several
times. He said he did not remember the shooting.

Walker's trial began on Jan. 8 and by Jan. 15 both Crown prosecutor
Daryl Bode of Yorkton and defence counsel Morris Bodnar of Saskatoon,
had presented evidence and their closing arguments.

On Wednesday, Jan. 16, Justice Pritchard charged the jury instructing
them that they could not lawfully acquit Walker. She told them their
lawful options were to convict him of first degree murder, or one of
the lesser but included offences of second degree murder or manslaughter.

The following three days of deliberations were punctuated by quick
press conferences held by members of Walker's and the victim's family.

First on Wednesday, Walker, speaking with low tones, told the press
that the important thing is his daughter, Jadah, is alive.

He thanked the community. "We have been blessed in many, many ways.
We have had much support.

Following that, James Hayward's mother, Lorrie Getty of Moose Jaw,
spoke just as briefly, struggling to speak through her tears saying
the community had demonized Hayward, "because my son, James, sold
marijuana which is against the law.

"He was a god person.

"The defence claims that Kim Walker saved his daughter. My son,
James, was taking morphine before his death. I was never given a
chance to save him." On Thursday, James Hayward's stepsisters, Alana
Getty, 29, of Calgary and Kendra Getty, 27, of Vancouver, the
daughters of the man Lorrie Getty married 10 years ago, read a
lengthier statement.

It concluded: "We believe that not convicting Mr. Walker of murder
would send the message that we don't need to care about everyone in
our communities. If we don't respect someone's lifestyle, of if they
are breaking laws, then we can not take their life and expect that
the law won't apply to us.

"Parents do not have the right to murder anyone their child chooses
to date under any circumstances."

Also, at 9 p.m on Thursday, Jan. 18, Bodnar made a challenge which
was not revealed to the jury.

He presented an Oct. 26, 2006, Supreme Court of Canada decision in
which Grant Krieger of Alberta, a former Preeceville resident, who
said he needed marijuana for medical reasons, had been charged with
growing it and a judge had directed jurors to convict him.

Krieger won his appeal because the judge had not told the jury that
they also had the option of acquitting the defendant although it
would be unlawful. Bodnar asked for a mistrial.

Bode argued that the judge's charge was acceptable and both Crown and
defence said giving more instruction to the jury would be wrong.

The judge declined the request for a mistrial and chose to continue
without advising the jury.

Following receiving the jury's verdict at about 3:30 p.m. on Friday,
Jan. 19, and then quick withdrawal and return with their sentencing
recommendation, the judge said, "The jury has recommended that you be
eligible for parole at the earliest opportunity in the law and I
accept your recommendations.

"Based on the evidenced at this trial I am satisfied I am convinced
that you were at the time of this offence operating under terrible anguish.

"You may very well have honestly believed at that time that shooting
James Hayward was the only option in rescuing your daughter from the
life she had been lured into.

"In short you were a desperate man. No doubt the heart of most
parents reaches out to you in sympathy for your anguish."

But the judge said, "In saving your daughter you unnecessarily took
the life of another human being."

Pritchard said Hayward was a 24-year-old who had influenced Jadah
Walker, an "impressionable and vulnerable 16-year-old."

She sentenced Walker to a lifetime firearms prohibition and required
him to provide a sample to the DNA bank as well as noting that there
is a mandatory requirement for him to forfeit all his firearms to the Crown.