SASKATOON – A 35-year-old Saskatoon man found guilty of manslaughter in the death of his roommate in 2012 was sentenced on Tuesday.
After sitting through 11 impact statements via video from the victim’s family, Jake Ottertail was able to express how deeply sorry he was for what he did.
The judge sentenced Ottertail to ten years and credited him for the three years he has spent in remand. He will serve seven years in a federal institution.
Ottertail was originally charged with second-degree murder of his roommate, Bert Haverkort, in 2010.
The prosecution in the case was looking for 13 years behind bars for Ottertail, while his defence was asking for five to seven years.
“I think what’s important is today, the family has some closure and they can move forward on the loss of a very dear family member and somebody who’s going to be missed greatly,” said Crown Prosecutor Valerie Adamko.
“I think it was a fair sentence, it’s in the range that some courts say it should be, it’s in the range of 4 to 12 years and it was nice to get it over with quickly…Everyone wants to know their result and lets have it now,” said Defence Lawyer Morris Bodnar.
The court heard Ottertail attacked his 47-year-old roommate after he made a racist comment to Ottertail during a night of drinking.
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