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Man pleads guilty to 1990 Saskatoon murder

Watch the video above: a Saskatoon man pleads guilty to a murder that happened in 1990

SASKATOON – A Saskatoon man has pleaded guilty to a 1990 murder.

Johnathon Robert Pickett, 42, pleaded guilty in court on Friday to second-degree murder in the death of Joan Foulds.

Foulds, 57, was found sexually assaulted, beaten and stabbed in her Avenue D South home on July 22, 1990.

Police charged Pickett in May 2013 after using DNA evidence to link him to the murder.

Foulds worked at the Friendship Inn which is where Pickett, who was 19 at the time of the murder, came to know her.

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Those who worked with Foulds said her generosity was very well-known in the community.

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“The only concern we had with [Foulds] was that she was so kind and we were just afraid she’d get into trouble by being the way she is,” said Robin Bellamy, a former executive director at the Friendship Inn.

“She was so giving and she was always loaning money,” added Sheila Hawkins, a friend of Foulds.

In an unprecedented decision by the judge, cameras were allowed inside the courtroom after the proceedings to record two of Foulds’ nieces Skype appearance.

They said their aunt’s murder devastated their family.

“I think she was a soul that was extinguished way too soon by a very evil man,” said Leanore Curran.

“She was such a generous and kind soul, she was very funny, very loving,” added Therese Kahn.

Pickett was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 16-and-a-half years.

He made a short apology after being sentenced.

“They were just words to him, they weren’t heart-felt, they were words,” Curran said.

The family says the sentence has brought closure to the case that has haunted them for years.

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