A Calgary man has been sentenced to consecutive parole ineligibilities for killing his mother and the woman she cared for.
Emanuel Kahsai was ordered to spend life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 50 years for the stabbing death of Selma Alem and Julie Tran.
“It is an awful thing for a 30-year-old son to kill his mother under any circumstances,” Justice Glen Poelman said in passing the sentence for two counts of first-degree murder.
Last week, a jury convicted Kahsai, 33, of the 2015 stabbing deaths of his mother Alem and Tran. Alem acted as caregiver for Tran, a woman with a disability who she lived with.
Poelman said these were particularly egregious crimes and called the killings “repugnant.”
“Both murders were planned and deliberate, and “went far beyond what was necessary to end a life.”
Get daily National news
Poelman also called it a savage attack.
Court heard Alem suffered 10 stab wounds to her face neck and abdomen and blunt force injuries to her face.
Tran suffered from 18 stab wounds to her face neck chest and abdomen and blunt force injuries to her face.
At the time she was killed, Alem had an emergency protection order against Kahsai.
“I am unable to identify any mitigating factors,” Poelman said.
Loved ones broke down as they read victim impact statements.
“The impact of what you have done will haunt me, my family and my world forever,” Alem’s best friend Susan Hills told court.
“I can never ever forgive you for what you have done – ever,” she said.
“Selma and Julie, I will always love you and miss you, and that will never change. My heart is broken.”
WATCH: A jury found Emanuel Kahsai guilty of first-degree murder in the 2015 stabbing deaths of his 54-year-old mother, Selmawit Alem, and Julie Tran, the 25-year-old woman Alem was a caregiver to. Blake Lough reports.
Kahsai was held in a separate courtroom during Thursday’s sentencing hearing. He was removed from the main courtroom during the trial, after numerous outbursts.
“Contact the FBI, the United States Army,” he said at one point.
As the sentencing decision was being read, Kahsai held a handwritten sign that read “FBI.”
In 2016, Kahsai underwent psychiatric testing and was deemed fit to stand trial. In November 2016, Kahsai dismissed his defence lawyer and chose to represent himself in his legal proceedings.
Comments