Watch above: Abraham Eagle has been found guilty of the 2013 second degree murder of Kelly Diehl. Meaghan Craig reports on Eagle’s sentencing.
SASKATOON – The verdict delivered by Judge Laing in the second-degree murder trial for Abraham Eagle is guilty. On Thursday, Eagle was convicted of murdering Kelly Brian Diehl in 2013, making it the third homicide of that year.
The decision came down to whether or not the judge believed it was Eagle that fatally injured Diehl on Aug. 29, 2013 in the 500-block of 5th Avenue North by stabbing him in the heart.
“I think the evidence was very clear, some of the evidence was circumstantial but when you put all the pieces together it was clear the man in the black pants with red stripe was the one that welded the weapon,” said Crown Prosecutor Jennifer Claxton-Viczko
“He was the one that inflicted the stabs wounds and he’s the one that caused the death.”
According to autopsy results, Diehl had three stab wounds to his body.
One was to the anterior mid-right chest, which perforated his heart and was the fatal wound. The second was to the anterior left chest, which perforated the diaphragm and the liver. The third stab wound was to the soft tissue of Diehl’s left thigh.
Diehl also had three cuts to his head and one on his forearm.
“Clearly, somebody who inflicts those kind of wounds in that area of the body is intending to kill someone or as the judge found is reckless as to whether death will ensue,” explained Claxton-Viczko.
READ MORE: Suspicious death in Saskatoon now a homicide investigation
Eagle was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years.
“There were many additional aggravating factors that I thought would support increasing the parole ineligibility given the accused’s age, the fact that any violence on his record was as a youth and the circumstances of the case,” remarked the Crown.
During the trial there was evidence that Eagle had armed himself with a knife and was the aggressor in an altercation with Diehl.
“None of the other witnesses described seeing the victim with a weapon or the victim punching back or kicking back, all they see is some wrestling at the beginning so some back and forth which suggests as one witness put it, it was more the victim pushing away or pulling away from the attacker,” said Claxton-Viczko.
When asked if Eagle had anything to say, he made only one request.
“I would just like to ask my Lord if I can hug and kiss my family.”
Laing refused the request but said he would permit Eagle to see his family for 10 minutes before leaving the courthouse. Eagle’s lawyer declined to make a comment to the media.
Eagle’s older brother, Albert Eagle has also been charged with being an accessory after the fact to second-degree murder. His trial date has yet to be rescheduled after he fired his lawyer.
Read below: The verdict in Abraham Eagle’s murder trial
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