WALKER GUILTY ON LESSER CHARGE

Manslaughter Conviction Fuels Tension Between Opposing
Sides

Before he left court in handcuffs following a manslaughter conviction,
Kim Joseph Walker hugged his daughter, whose boyfriend he killed, and
told her and other family members to "be strong."

"I'll be OK," the 54-year-old husband and father told them after the
verdict Thursday evening. "Everything will be all right."

But for the family of the man he gunned down, the trial's outcome was
far from right.

"The legal system in Canada is a joke," a clearly agitated Dan
Hayward, brother of the victim James Hayward, told reporters.

"I'm completely disgusted right now. It just goes to show the
gullibility of people. And that you can trespass in a man's house and
shoot him five times in front of everybody and it doesn't matter," he
said.

"I'm serving a life sentence without my brother because of
him."

Moments later, Walker's wife Elizabeth told reporters, "I would just
like to know where the law was to protect my daughter from a
24-year-old convicted drug dealer who was a predator."

It sparked an emotional outburst between both families, hurling
expletives until a court official stepped in.

Both sides are expected back at the courthouse today when sentencing
arguments will be heard by Justice Ellen Gunn. Although Walker has
been out on bail, Gunn ordered that he be taken in custody to await
sentencing.

Defence lawyer Balfour Der said he'll be asking that his client serve
no additional time. Walker served about three years in prison prior to
winning an appeal of his 2007 second-degree murder conviction and a
new trial.

Crown prosecutor Robin Ritter declined to discuss what penalty he'll
seek.

Walker was on trial for seconddegree murder in the March 17, 2003,
shooting death of Hayward, 24.

Armed with a semi-automatic pistol, Walker went to Hayward's Yorkton
home to retrieve his 16year-old daughter Jadah, then a morphine addict
living with Hayward, whom Walker believed was supplying her with the
drugs.

Walker told the jury he doesn't remember the shooting, but testified
he was afraid of Hayward and acted in self-defence -a memory loss the
Crown called "too convenient."

Gunn had given the jury three options: Guilty of second-degree murder,
guilty of manslaughter or an outright acquittal.

It was clearly a difficult decision for the jurors, who began
deliberations at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Around 7: 30 p.m. Thursday, they sent
word they had a verdict, having spent most of the afternoon rehearing
a recording of Walker's evidence at their request.

Jadah Walker told reporters the family was prepared for the worst and
hoping for the best.

"This is not the worst-case scenario for us," she said. Jadah said the
family, minus Walker, would be gathering after court "to rejoice on
our slight victory and go from there. You can't turn back. You can't
live life with regrets," she said.

With tears streaming down her cheeks, Hayward's mother Lorrie Getty
told reporters her son was "an amazing young man who made incredibly
bad choices. He paid his life for them."

Clutching a stuffed toy and a photo of Hayward, Getty said her son has
made her brave enough to speak out.

"I'm going to spend the rest of my life doing this and telling
everyone all the good things about James. I'm so very proud to be
James Hayward's mom, especially today," she said.

During the trial, court heard how Walker and his wife had Jadah, who
left home on her 16th birthday, committed under a mental health
warrant because of her addiction. But after her release from hospital,
she initially went home, then back to Hayward following a phone call
from him. Walker, who picked up the phone, said Hayward told him he
would make Jadah "disappear."

A member of the local pistol club with military training, Walker
showed up at Hayward's home. He fired all 10 rounds in his clip,
shooting an unarmed Hayward five times, including one round in the
back.

"I feared for my life and that of my child," Walker testified. He told
court he has only "flashes" of memory of the incident -"chaos" at the
house, blood, an RCMP officer pointing a gun at him and Jadah with
blood on her.

Ritter said he respects the jury's verdict.

"They obviously worked long and hard at it. They spent approximately
30 hours deliberating."

Asked if any side can claim victory, Ritter replied, "It's a tragedy
for everyone, especially for James Hayward's family."

Der said he was disappointed the jury didn't accept
self-defence.

"I'm at a loss, I can't explain," he said. "It takes a fair bit of
courage and some understanding of reasonable doubt in order to come to
a verdict of not guilty," said Der.

Asked if the jurors possibly split the difference between murder and
an outright acquittal, Der agreed it is a compromise. Only the jurors
know and Gunn reminded them that by law, they can't discuss their
deliberations.