A packed Yellowknife courtroom erupted in cheers and cries last week as a Supreme Court justice found Denecho King guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated assault for a 2014 sword attack that claimed the life of one man and seriously injured another. Twenty-five year old King, in stark contrast to his mother who wept and yelled, "f--k you all! My son is going to jail for life," showed little emotion Friday as Justice Andrew Mahar convicted him of carrying out a bloody and brutal attack at Yellowknife apartment three-and-a-half years ago.
In the early hours of Dec. 14, 2014, John Wifladt and his longtime friend Colin Digness were found bloodied and barely breathing inside a Sunridge Place Apartment unit – music still blaring, with two ornamental-style swords, owned by Digness, laying near the two badly injured men.
Wifladt later died, while Digness – present in court Friday – survived, sustaining life-changing injuries as a result of the attack.
In finding King guilty of second-degree murder – a conviction that automatically carries a life sentence with no chance of parole for ten years – Mahar was satisfied King carried out the deadly sword attack.
But with doubts about King's intent to kill during the brief apartment encounter with apparent strangers, Mahar said he couldn't find King guilty of attempted murder, resulting in the lesser conviction of aggravated assault.
"I don't think he went there to kill anyone. Whatever happened, happened very quickly," said Mahar.
A motive for the attack was never offered by the Crown, with prosecutors instead relying on extensive circumstantial evidence.
Large amounts of DNA
But Mahar called the circumstantial evidence linking King to the attack and the killing of Wifladt – particularly the "surprisingly" large amounts of his DNA located on the handles of the swords – "compelling."
Mahar also found testimony from key Crown witnesses to be credible and reliable, citing a woman who told the court she clearly saw King in Sunridge Place Apartments just 20 minutes before
Wifladt and Digness were found clinging to life on the building's third floor.
While King and his lawyer Jay Bran didn't call any evidence during the 20-day trial, the defence ultimately suggested Wifladt's death was the tragic result of an alcohol-fueled play fight gone wrong. Bran also suggested his client's DNA could have been transferred indirectly onto the swords through crime scene contamination.
Mahar said the alternative scenarios suggested by King's defence were "so implausible as to be almost impossible."
Considering forensic evidence, witness testimony and CCTV footage of King "pantomiming" swinging motions less than an hour after the sword attack took place, Mahar said the "only rational explanation" is that the DNA was transferred onto the swords "when King used them to kill John Wifladt and injure Colin Digness."
Relatives of Wifladt, who wept and held each other in the courtroom following Friday's decision, expressed relief to Yellowknifer after the guilty verdict.
"It's been a long three and a half years. We're happy with the verdict," stated John's father, Jack Wifladt.
Son's smiling face
Jack, who regularly attended the trial alongside John's mother and siblings, wore a special shirt and necklace to court Friday, that showed his son's smiling face.
While the Crown didn't receive the attempted murder conviction they were looking for, prosecutor Alex Godfrey said he and fellow prosecutor Jill Andrews respect
the decision of the court
"We'll move on to the next phase which is now the sentencing phase. After being involved with the file for three and a half years, it's certainly a relief that it's over," said Godfrey.
King's lawyer said he'll be reserving comment until sentencing.
King, who triggered a three-day police manhunt after breaking out of North Slave Correctional Complex in 2016, will be back in court in August to set a sentencing date, which is expected to be in September.
In the meantime, a pre-sentence report will be prepared for King, a process Mahar encouraged the now convicted murderer to be open to. "I want to know more about you," Mahar said to King.