A 24-year-old man is facing a second-degree murder charge in Saskatoon’s most recent homicide.
Police arrested Alvin Naistus on Tuesday afternoon at a home on the 400 block of Mowat Crescent. He appeared in Saskatoon provincial court Wednesday morning to face the charge.
Naistus is accused in the death of 44-year-old William Johnston.
Johnston was stabbed in the Northwoods Inn parking lot and died Saturday morning.
Police said an altercation took place inside a motel room and continued outside.
A witness, who does not want to be identified, told CTV he saw three men confront another man in the parking lot. One of the three men pushed the victim to the ground, and another one of the men jumped on him.
“As soon as he fell over on his back, the other guy jumped on top of him and it looked like he was sticking something in his head, like around his ear or his forehead or something like that,” the witness said.
Johnston was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and pronounced dead just after 7 a.m. An autopsy Monday confirmed the cause of death.
Naistus’s brother told CTV he was shocked by the arrest. He said his brother had recently gone back to school to finish Grade 12 and was trying to get his life back in order.
Johnston's friends said he had a tough life but had a heart of gold and wanted to become a social worker. His death is the city's fifth homicide of the year.
