A man sent to prison for raping and slaying a mother of five is appealing both his murder conviction and life sentence.
Christopher Watcheston, 24, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years for killing Arcelie Laoagan.
He is basing his appeal on “incorrect” findings during his trial.
In his notice of appeal, filed April 27 from the Calgary Remand Centre, Watcheston calls the evidence from doctors at his trial “very prejudicial.”
He says the findings of his credibility, intoxication and circumstances of the offence were all “incorrect,” he wrote.
Laoagan’s random and violent murder shocked the city.
The 41-year-old was raped, kicked repeatedly in the head and left to die on a secluded pathway on a frigid winter night just blocks from her home.
Laoagan was followed from the northeast Franklin C-Train station and attacked shortly after 11 p.m. on Jan. 17, 2008.
Watcheston pleaded not guilty, but video surveillance and two cellphone calls made by Laoagan to a friend from the crime scene sealed his fate.
In the first call, Laoagan told the friend she was being raped. In the second, she was only moaning.
Watcheston, who had been drinking alcohol and smoking the hallucinogenic herb Salvia before he boarded the same train as the victim, was not so intoxicated he didn’t know what he was doing, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Kristine Eidsvik ruled.
Laoagan came to Calgary in 2004 in search of a better life. She left behind her husband and five children who remain in the Philippines. She had intended to establish herself here, then bring them to Canada.
Her sister’s bid to take over sponsorship of the family was rejected last September by Immigration Canada.
When he was convicted in April, Watcheston gave an impassioned apology.
“It doesn’t mean I’m any less responsible for this horrific crime and I’m not minimizing anything that I’ve done,” he said. “But I do know that I will forever live with the sorrow on my soul.”
szickefoose@theherald. canwest.com
Comments