A defence lawyer for one of three men charged in the death of Isho Hana says convicting his client would be “dangerous.”
Kenneth Tingle’s lawyer, Markham Silver, said Tuesday on day two of the trial’s closing arguments his client should be acquitted of first-degree murder because no evidence exists to back up statements made by the man who implicated Tingle in the case.
Tingle is charged alongside two other men — Jonathan Dombowsky and Long Nam Luu — in the 2004 death of Hana. Hana was gunned down in what police describe as a drug turf war in Saskatoon.
All three accused are being tried together and the Crown is arguing the murder was the result of a contract killing.
A fourth man, Neil Yakimchuk, was found guilty of shooting Hana, but successfully appealed his conviction and is awaiting a new trial. He told undercover police officers when he and Tingle went to shoot Hana, both of their guns jammed. Yakimchuk’s gun eventually worked and he shot Hana from behind, he said to the officers.
Silver argued his client should not be convicted for a number of reasons:
- The evidence implicating Tingle comes only from Yakimchuk, he argued. Yakimchuk’s statements to the undercover officers are not corroborated.
- All but one witness to the incident saw only one man chasing Hana. That single witness was not as reliable as the other witnesses, according to Silver.
- The only person who claims Tingle had a gun is Yakimchuk. No other evidence exists proving Tingle had a gun, Silver said.
- Tingle did not know a murder was planned, according to Silver. He only thought Yakimchuk was collecting a drug debt.
Day one of closing arguments, which took place Monday, saw all three defence lawyers poke holes in what Yakimchuk told the undercover officer. The three even went as far as to call Yakimchuk a liar.
The Crown will make its closing statementWednesday.
The trial for Tingle, Dombowsky and Luu has been before the courts for more than a year. A judge said Tuesday he doesn’t expect a verdict to be reached until sometime in June.
