Dad killed drug pusher to save addict daughter, defence argues

[Alfa]

Old but controversial:

Dad killed drug pusher to save addict daughter, defence argues
James Wood, CanWest News Service
January 17, 2007

YORKTON, Sask. - Kim Walker rescued his daughter from a drug addict's death on the day nearly four years ago when he shot to death her boyfriend, drug dealer James Hayward, defence attorney Morris Bodnar said as lawyers presented their final arguments to the jury Tuesday in Walker's first-degree murder trial.

Bodnar argued that Walker, who testified Monday he does not remember the shooting, never intended to kill Hayward.

While he took a pistol for protection, the only reason Walker went to Hayward's house on March 17, 2003 was to get back his daughter, whose health had deteriorated significantly because of morphine addiction, said Bodnar.

''He did it. He saved her. If he had not gone to 64 Agricultural Ave . . . if she had died, what would you have said? 'Where were the parents?'''

Bodnar said he wasn't calling for an ''open season on drug dealers'' but convicting his client of murder would send the wrong message.

Hayward was ''killing people'' by selling drugs, he said.

''He was that close to killing that girl in the front row,'' he said, referring to the now 20-year-old Jadah Walker, who sat with family members.

But Crown prosecutor Daryl Bode said that while the jury may not like Hayward or what he did, there is no such thing as ''a second-class murder victim.''

''He was somebody's son,'' said Bode.

''The moment we devalue life, the moment we create second-class murder victims . . . that's the moment we betray ourselves. We start down a slippery slope to becoming a society we don't want to be.''

Bode said that all of Walker's actions - saying four days before the shooting, according to one witness, that he would love to ''blow James' head off,'' taking a pistol and extra ammunition to the house, and firing 10 shots, including when Hayward was already down - show that he planned to kill Hayward.

That makes it first-degree murder, he said.

Bodnar said the jury could reach a verdict of manslaughter - that Walker caused Hayward's death but did not intend to kill him.

The judge expected to charge the jury today.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/na...d6d9ba&k=44211

Acquittal not an option for Sask. father who shot daughter's boyfriend: judge

17, 2007 - 3:20 pm

By: TIM COOK

YORKTON, Sask. (CP) - Acquittal is not an option in the case of a father who shot his drug-addicted teenage daughter's dealer boyfriend, a judge told a jury Wednesday.

Before the eight women and four men filed out to begin their deliberations, Justice Jennifer Pritchard told them they must decide only if Kim Walker is guilty of first-or second-degree murder, or manslaughter.

There was no evidence that showed the killing of 24-year-old James Hayward was lawful, Pritchard said.

"Manslaughter is the minimum offence that has been committed in this case," the judge said.

Pritchard explained that the jury must decide if Walker, 50, had the "state of mind for murder." If he did, then they must decide whether the murder was planned and deliberate - the difference between first and second degree.

After about three hours, the jury came back asking the judge what "the state of mind required for murder" means.

Pritchard said jurors should use their common sense to determine if Walker meant to kill Hayward, and she sent them back to continue deliberating.

Over the last week and a half, the jury heard how Walker's daughter, Jadah, then 16, was living with Hayward in the months before the attack and the two were using morphine.

In the week before the shooting, Walker and his wife received a letter from one of Jadah's friends warning them of the addiction.

After going to police, they managed to get a warrant committing Jadah to a hospital for 72 hours.

When she was released, her parents took her home, but she was soon picked up by friends and taken to Hayward's.

That's when Walker went over and gunned down Hayward in a front room of the house.

"It is for you to say whether the murder of James Hayward was both planned and deliberate," Pritchard told the jury. "Could any plan made in such circumstances be considered deliberate?"

The defence had argued that the slaying was a father's desperate attempt to save his daughter from a debilitating addiction.

In his closing argument, lawyer Morris Bodnar asked the jury to send the message that "we are mad as hell and we did something about people killing our children."

Speaking with reporters outside court Wednesday, Bodnar reaffirmed that position.

"In the end, yes, it was a father saving his daughter - a very concerned parent who saw his daughter going downhill and what we think was on the verge of dying," he said.

"If the jury came back with manslaughter, my client would be happy."

The Crown countered by arguing that the killing was the calculating act of a parent who wanted his daughter's boyfriend dead and Hayward did not deserve second-class justice because of his drug problems.

Crown lawyer Daryl Bode called the attack a "deliberate, intentional" choice that Walker made.

On the stand, Walker testified he could remember only snippets from around the time of the shooting.

But Bode reminded the jury how Walker must have gone to his basement, got his gun, loaded it with 10 bullets and brought 20 more with him. He told jurors that Walker drove to Hayward's house, parked his truck neatly on the side of the street, went into the house to grab Jadah and, when she wouldn't leave, unloaded his gun in Hayward's direction.

Hayward ended up being hit five times and bled to death on the floor.

Bode also pointed to testimony given by one of Jadah's friends, who said she had heard Walker say in the days before the shooting that if he didn't have a family, he would like to "blow (Hayward's) head off." Walker has denied saying that.

Prior to his closing argument, Bodnar had asked that the jury be instructed on the issue of whether the shooting was self-defence.

In the days leading up to the shooting, with Jadah in hospital, Walker testified that he received threatening phone calls from Hayward. Walker also said he remembered Hayward coming at him with anger in his eyes when he fired.

But witnesses testified that they only saw Hayward point Walker to the door and Walker didn't have any physical injuries after the shooting.

Consequently, Pritchard ruled out instructing the jury on the issue of self-defence.

http://www.news1130.com/news/nationa...ntent=n011755A

Walker convicted in slaying
Guilty of second-degree murder in shooting death of his drug-addicted daughter's boyfriend
January 20, 2007
Tim Cook
CANADIAN PRESS

YORKTON, SASK.–At the back door of the Yorkton courthouse, a tearful young woman stood in the bitter cold yesterday and waved goodbye as the father she feels saved her from a certain drug-addict's death was taken away to prison.

A jury convicted Kim Walker, 50, of second-degree murder for gunning down his daughter's boyfriend, James Hayward, in March 2003.

A judge immediately imposed the mandatory life sentence and agreed with the jury that he should be eligible for parole in 10 years, the shortest possible time for that conviction.

"My father is my hero," Walker's daughter, Jadah, said as she left for home without her dad. "I'll swear that until the day that I die. He saved my life. He did what he had to do."

Walker's wife, Elizabeth, called Hayward a "dirty scumbag" as relatives pulled her away from reporters and she got into the family's van.

Hayward's family tried hard in the past few days to repair the image of their son, who the court heard was a convicted drug dealer, but who relatives say was a good and friendly person.

His mother, Lorrie Getty, who sobbed quietly as the jury's verdict was read, said the decision will never repair the damage Walker has done.

"I think justice was done," Getty said. "I don't want justice, I don't want revenge, I want James back. That's what I want."

She read a poem for reporters, written by Hayward's younger brother, Danny.

"You call yourself a father and you act like you're a saint, but yet you could not bother to show some self restraint," the poem read, referring to Walker.

"Sure he wasn't perfect, but no one really is, so why was he so worthless? The mistakes he made were his."

Walker had originally been charged with first-degree murder and the jury took 2 1/2 days to weigh the evidence.

During the trial, court heard how Hayward and Jadah Walker were living together and both were addicted to morphine.

Walker shot Hayward five times, including once in the back. The young man bled to death as Jadah, then 16, cradled his head in her lap.

The jury's finding meant they believed he had the "state of mind for murder," but the killing was not planned and deliberate.

Walker, a welder who taught the bagpipes in his spare time, stared vacantly at the floor as the jurors were polled. His daughter broke down in tears and had to be comforted by a family member.

"You may have honestly believed that shooting James Hayward was the only viable option to you," Justice Jennifer Pritchard said after imposing her sentence. "In short, you were a desperate man and no doubt the hearts of most parents reach out to you, but you wrongfully killed this man."

Walker's lawyer, Morris Bodnar, said there will "absolutely" be an appeal of the conviction.

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/173095

Dad Who Killed Girl's Drug-dealing Boyfriend Says Family's Lives Ruined
Prince Albert Daily Herald (CN SN)
April 11, 2007

Prince Albert - A father who killed his 16-year-old drug-addicted daughter's boyfriend says he has nightmares about that fateful day four years ago.

In an interview at the Saskatchewan penitentiary, Kim Walker told the CTV News show The Verdict that he doesn't remember much the day he fired 10 shots at James Hayward, hitting him five times.

Walker was convicted last fall of second-degree murder for the 2003 shooting of Hayward and received a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 years. He is appealing.

A jury heard how Walker's teenage daughter, Jadah, was living with Hayward in Yorkton in the months before the attack and using morphine with him.

"It was a culmination of so many different factors - the attempts we took, the steps we took to get her out of the drug house, our pleas to police were ignored,'' said Walker.

"I knew she would die ... she was being shot up with morphine and I know how deadly it is - all it would do is take a little overdose.''

Speaking slowly, his eyes welling with tears, Walker said he and his wife, Elizabeth, didn't realize at first that Jadah was on drugs. However, he said it wasn't long before they were constantly arguing with her.

"She was calling us by our first names. When the police came they said, 'Does she always treat you like this?' and we said, 'no, not always.' The police said we should practise tough love.''

However, he said Jadah left the house, going to a place "Hayward had set up.''

Walker and his wife would pick her up for lunch a few times a week and try to convince her to come home.

CTV said relatives of Hayward declined to be interviewed for the program.

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Reputation Comments on this post:

good news posting

[nalbano34]

I don't see how the guy thought that killing the one dealer would stop his daughter from pursueing her habit. Very weak defense if you ask SWim.

[Police Officer]

Thats a very compelling argument. If I was forced to pick, I think I wouldve picked manslaughter.

[Heretic.Ape.]

You don't think that the fellow could have somehow, maybe...just maybe figured out some other way to save his daughter other than pumping five rounds into the guy? If that's not a case of premeditated murder I don't know what is.

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Maybe his daughter didn't want to be saved,some people don't.You have to accept that.No one made his daughter use morphine other than herself.You can place blame on lots of people but in the end there is a such thing as responsibillity.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Very good,some people cant be saved.
	Oh so true

[Bajeda]

Originally Posted by Police Officer

Thats a very compelling argument. If I was forced to pick, I think I wouldve picked manslaughter.

I believe that shows a bit of bias on your end. There were many other paths the man could have taken to take his daughter out of harms way, and violence wasn't necessarily one of them. He let his emotions get to him, which is understandable, but he went too far. I'm actually surprised you would have gone for that one.

The fact is that however dislikeable the guy may have been (and that is complete speculation, as the media tends to demonize drug users and especially dealers), he shouldn't have been shot five times. There is no way you could say the daughter was absolutely going to OD and die from morphine (the father let his fears get to him), and even then it wouldn't self-defence shooting the dealer. Its still outright murder, if a bit warm blooded.

[Laudaphun]

Nothing makes SWIM madder than her parents trying to blame everyone else in the world for SWIM's addiction... except for SWIM. SWIM very openly admits that her addictions of the past were entirely 100% her own fault. SWIM will openly admit that no one ever forced her or even had to encourage her to try any drugs of any sort.

SWIM's family doesn't hear it though, they just retort, "I'd do this" or "I'd do that to those dirtbags that got my poor little SWIM hooked on drugs"... SWIM repeats, again... SWIM made her own decisions, there were never any stereotypical drug dealers pushing these horrible drugs on innocent SWIM. SWIM wanted to experiment with things, and quite eagerly she might add. But it's like talking to an wall... nothing SWIM says registers. SWIM hasn't touched heroin in over 18 months but they still think she's in denial or something. Then when SWIM even comes close to convincing them that is addiction was totally her fault, they want to diagnosis her with bi-polar or severe depression. There must be a reason SWIM decided to start taking those drugs. Maybe SWIM does have some anxiety issues, but that's definitely not why she experimented with any drugs... Maybe its why she prefers heroin over cocaine, but not why started taking them.

SWIM's parents will blame her friends... but actually, as SWIM remembers it, all those who really were SWIM's friends were introduced to opiates by SWIM... but yet her parents can't accept that. They can't accept that SWIM willingly sought out heroin, very anxious to try it, full well knowing the consequences that were likely to result. Of course SWIM didn't really have a good grasp on the term "addiction" at that point in time. They cannot come to terms with any possibility might have made his own decisions. SWIM just gets so frustrated because the guy in that article sounds like SWIM's family so much.

Regardless of what that girl wanted, even through at 16 years of age she was so young, regardless of whether she even got or stayed clean or still uses... she was young when her boyfriend was murdered, which likely messed with her head and will for a long time if she actually witnessed him being shot 5 times as SWIM suspects she was, as he bled to death with his head resting on her lap. All that shit aside, despite what her father did, she doesn't want to lose her dad for the rest of her life... Maybe watching her dad shoot a bunch of holes through her boyfriend made her clean maybe not... Or maybe, she never quit opiates. Even if she was angry with her father at the time, 4 years is plenty of time for a 16 year old girl to realize that her father only did it out of love for her. I'd guess she still is an opiate user unless she is super adamant about not letting her father's "10 to life" be for nothing.

More young people take drugs than older people... some quit and go on to do other things... some don't and just waste their lives... some lead a productive lives and try to hide it. Maybe this James character would have got cleaned up and did something really positive with his life. The man should be charged with first-degree murder, it was obviously pre-meditated, his defense is just one big guilt trip. The only card he's got is many parents out there feel for him, and he'll play that card until he's run out of appeals or he gets away with murder.

Reputation Comments on this post:

enjoyed reading this post, good read

[Orchid_Suspiria]

^^That pretty much sums it all up right there.The same applies for swim,no one ever made him do anything no one ever pushed it on him.He made the choice to find the needle,he made the choice to put it in his vein.Swim admits to it.

Nothing makes swim angrier than his parents trying to blame everyone else in the world(well other than his fucking dad sitting there with a glass of whiskey in his hand saying swim should be locked up hope the fuck has acute liver failure soon but thats beside the point)and maybe the boyfriend wasn't so bad.Maybe he didn't like seeing the girl hooked on morphine anymore than the girls family.Perhaps he simply just hated to see the girl in the painful and desperate state of withdrawal and simply did what he could to keep it at bay.

The person that introduced swim to methadone was swims friend and still is so that throws out the whole NA lie of"People that give you drugs aren't your friends"The person simply didn't know anything about opiates or what methadone and its addiction potential was.This person has apologized to swim for getting him on it and now tries to give it to swim for free,swim has to demand to pay the guy sometimes.So that throws out that old lie.

[stoneinfocus]

Saving his daughter? slaughtering her boyfriend with a gun into a bunch of bloody flesh, before her eyes?

I see, she will be greatful for this experience and someday ... mabybe shortly before she´s dying, aggree, that these responsible parentes "saved" "her" life, thinking of her friend lying dead in a lake of blood before her, gunned down by her father.

Walker said he and his wife, Elizabeth, didn't realize at first that Jadah was on drugs.

they´d realized if she were drunk, eh .. so what then.... burning all bars and killing all bar tenders shooting all that ever drove drunk?

Up, up, to hell, with those psychos, will have a fun time tryin getting along with some inmates ... and -damn, what will they do for killing time*g*

[Alfa]

Note that the 'Dealer' was the girls boyfriend. So there may be a lot more at play, then just the drugs issue.
I would say though that drug addiction tangled into a relationship is a combination that is very hard to break. Try beating a strong addiction when your sole mate is still much into it. mhm. IMO that more than tripples the problem.
Also; I very much doubt other dealers would sell the girl anything if they know the last dealer was killed for that action.

[stoneinfocus]

... if... so actually .. not gonna happen she won´t getting stuff of anybody.

Yet, we don´t know anything, out of the stroy... how much did they shot up? did they shot up? or were they smoking a opium pipe and the "friends" felt compelled telling this to Jadah´s parents, who thought it was a morphine addiction, the sure way to death *g*.

They were arguing before and drugs are blamed.

Maybe the father was just an asshole ansd jealous on that guy, so making him a "dealer" is actually a safe justification for having a clean vest feeling like he´s done the right thing, gving him shelter.

Nonono.

Mostly, if a coupple uses drugs, they so before each on their own and when they break up, when they´re fed up about each other, dealer or not, it actually makes no difference (for heavily addicted bitch or a moderately using girl, both would still get everything at almost the same dealing conditions from the same dealer/person)

Reputation Comments on this post:

as usual I cant read your posts. Please use the spell check of firefox if you have it.

[podge]

Originally Posted by Police Officer

Thats a very compelling argument. If I was forced to pick, I think I wouldve picked manslaughter.

That's just plain stupid. Why did the man need 30 bullet's if he didnt intend on killing the man ? It was clearly premeditated. As a police officer swiy should know that. Obviously the father was upset.....her daughter was going out with someone 8 years her senior and he was giving her a highly addictive drug.

But premeditated murder is premeditated murder what ever way you look at it....just because the dead man was a bit sick going out with a girl of that age at his age and because he was drug user and dealer user doesnt mean anybody has a right to class his death as any less important.

The father could have easily come in and beat the shit out the man or maybe put a bullet in his leg......but he decided that he needed to pump five bullets into him. That father does did not deserve manslaughter. Altough i understand his situation and i sympathise with him.

[ryceboy]

lets say if ur daughter was with this guy and hes giving her these drugs that are highly addictive (im not sure if its addicitive) and it can kill her and hes probably fucking her every hour. this girl is only 16 years old she is still a minor. what would you do ? go to the boyfriend and tell him to stay away ? only that you will be ignored and made a fool of. in the story it did say that he went to the boyfriend and talked to him but that was useless. what this father did was show unconditional love to his daughter and now she realizes how much her father is willing to sacrafice to save her. i think he should be given a reward for killing this guy.

[Heretic.Ape.]

Yes I commend him on his valor and bravery, his undeniable genius in surmounting obstacles and his humanitarian spirit in resorting to murder to solve his problems. Right.

[tayo]

this could be paralleled to cases where people are hunting sex offenders (finding their addresses in the registries) in hopes of protecting future happenings. but to kill is to deny existence to another, in the pettiest way it is a cop-out in attempting to play god.

[ryceboy]

i guess he should of given him a warning like " stay the fuck away from my daughter or im goin to blow ur head off"

[tayo]

yeah or tazer him, and then say that

[ryceboy]

but then the girl would probably go back to him or he would still have contact with this girl right ? so what happens next

Reputation Comments on this post:

...::: justification of pre-meditated murder? understanding, yes, but justification? :::...

[tayo]

actually, uhhh, could have set up a sting operation or simply informed the local DEA or police that this person was a dealer... if he had access to kill him he had access to where he was, his name, and what drugs he was giving his daughter. so he should have reported him and put him away in jail... now thats where he is going

[ryceboy]

didnt it say in the article that the father contacted police but they didnt do anything

[ryceboy]

"It was a culmination of so many different factors - the attempts we took, the steps we took to get her out of the drug house, our pleas to police were ignored,'' said Walker.

[Laudaphun]

With a girl of 16 years of age, living with someone over 18... drugs involved, and even a concerned friend to attest to that fact(supposedly). SWIM thinks that that would leave much opportunity for legal intervention, which SWIM does not necessarily condone unless it is gonna keep you from blowing someone else away... The guy could have easily been put away for a few years for the stack of charges that he could have been hit with. Corruption of a minor, sexxoring a minor, and we all know how creative the legal system can get when it comes to their initial list of charges. If the girl was 16, she would have been the father's legal responsibility. As SWIA stated,

there may have been a lot more at play than a drug issue.

Do you think he'd have reacted the same way if it was his son instead of his daughter? Not everyone but many understand how father/daughter relationships can be... Take SWIM's household for example... a brother and a sister. The brother could be screwing a different girl every night up in his bedroom and his dad would probably high five him. Anyone comes over and touches the sister, they lose a hand at the wrist.

I think the man did wrong, and think he should pay the same penalty for what he did as anyone else, regardless of whether he killed a politician or a homeless person... At the same time I do feel for the guy, I mean it wasn't like he tried to be sneaky about it or even try to hid it, he just blew the dude away... He basically traded his life for that of his daughters addiction (maybe for her life even)... assuming she saw the err in her ways post-murder.

Does anyone else think that it's weird that it happened to be morphine and not... maybe something a little more easily available, more addictive. I know morphine can be quite addictive, but it just seems strange that it was the particular drug involved. I mean the guy was portrayed as this big drug dealer who got her hooked on morphine but if he was this big drug pusher, why morphine? Outside of diverted prescriptions, morphine is not a common street drug. I'd have bought the whole evil dude drug pusher image if it was coke, heroin, methamphetamine, or something maybe more commonly sold by actual drug dealers.

Reputation Comments on this post:

excellent observations

[tayo]

this is generation RX... prescription drugs fall into the hands of soooo many dealers, and in large quantities if one were so inclined to acquire them. People who don't use all their meds for surgeries, claiming chronic pain, but then they make a lil cash on the side when they dont need them, and there have been pharmacy robberies where they demand only oxycontin and morphine... that's another way they get on the street.

[Shiacmkmleer]

Please don't kill me for my opinion here since it seems to go against what most people here are saying. But I see the merits of both sides.


This reminds me of a case in Baltimore a while back. Everyone knew this one guy was a heroin dealer. One day a father find his son doing heroin. He calls the Police. The Police refuse to act (Giving rise the the assumption of bribes). Soon there after he shotguns the dealer in the face. IDK when I heard about that case I hoped the father would get off. He did end up getting a pretty light sentence albeit he still served time in jail/

[Heretic.Ape.]

Go get yer guns everybody, it's open season on drug dealers! Yeehaw! Let's see what other groups we can find that it isn't too politically incorrect to shoot...

Reputation Comments on this post:

ROFL