Both sides agree Tyler Hurd killed Cynthia Crampton by hitting her over the head with a hammer, but a judge must decide if the killing was first or second-degree murder.

Based on Tyler Hurd’s own confessions and evidence of planning and deliberation, a jury should convict Hurd of first-degree murder, according to Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo.

The 35-year-old Saskatoon man is charged with first-degree murder in the June 1, 2015 death of 55-year-old Crampton. She was found dead in the bathroom of her rented basement suite apartment in Stonebridge by her daughter.

Hurd confessed to the murder to numerous police officers after he was arrested and recalled the murder in great detail. Fillo said she’s never heard such blatant confessions in her career and likely won’t again. She told the jury the following quote Hurd said to police is the most significant thing the jury will hear:

“I’m about to frickin’ crack somebody’s skull open and follow through with cold-blooded, premeditated murder.”

Fillo argued Hurd had been planning the murder for about a day and a half after he wrote down his intentions to kill Crampton on a wooden board found by police at the scene. She argued Hurd planned to make it appear that Crampton was still alive by sending text messages from her phone, but that he wasn’t able to get her password correct.

Fillo argued Hurd told police he waited to murder Crampton until after she received her pay cheque so he could take the money, and that he didn’t regret the murder and would do it again without getting caught.

“This was a deliberate act,” Fillo said in her closing statement.

Defence lawyer Morris Bodnar argued the jury should convict Hurd of second-degree murder because there was no planning or deliberation. He argued Hurd didn’t clean up the crime scene,didn’t plan a getaway and he stayed in Crampton’s home with the body for two nights shows there was a lack of planning . He called Hurd’s actions after the murder “silly and elementary.”

Bodnar said Hurd’s life began to fall apart when his wife died of cancer in 2010. Hurd told a police officer he lost his job, his house and eventually his kids. He was afraid of losing his current girlfriend Tammy Poffley, who was addicted to painkillers that Crampton sold her, according to Bodnar.

“So put yourself in his position,” Bodnar told the jury. “His life is falling apart. It’s even falling apart right now.”

During the trial court heard Crampton allowed Hurd and Poffley stay in her small basement suite when they were homeless. In the interview with police Hurd said Crampton manipulated men using drugs and told Hurd she’d kick him out if he didn’t have sex with her.

Bodnar said Hurd “snapped” before killing Crampton and even though he told police the murder was premeditated that doesn’t mean he planned it.

He argued simply talking about murdering doesn’t mean the person is planning it, but Fillo said a great deal of planning doesn’t have to go into first-degree murder.

Both lawyers agree with forensic pathologist Dr. Shaun Ladham’s testimony that Crampton died of blunt force trauma to the head and there was evidence she was strangled. He also said meth was found in Crampton’s blood after her death.

Justice Neil Gabrielson is expected to deliver his charge to the jury Friday morning then deliberations will follow.

A first-degree murder conviction warrants an automatic life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years, while second-degree murder holds a life sentence with no parole eligibility for a minimum of 10 years.