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Man gets 7-year sentence for slaying

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 12/21/2012 2:38 PM | Comments: 0

A Winnipeg man has been handed seven years in prison for a deadly stabbing that began with a dispute over $10.

Leonard Leslie Murdock, 25, was convicted of manslaughter earlier this year. He returned to court Friday for sentencing. The Crown was seeking an eight-year penalty, while Murdock’s lawyer requested five years behind bars.

A jury found Murdock not guilty of the more serious charge of second-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.

Murdock didn’t deny stabbing his victim to death but claimed he acted in self-defence. He had asked jurors to acquit him entirely on the grounds his violent actions were justified.

Derek Robert Spence, 24, was fatally knifed in the 500 block of Manitoba Avenue in August 2010. Spence had been involved in a fight with Murdock’s friend over a $10 debt and was clearly getting the better of him, court was told.

That’s when he was attacked by the knife-wielding Murdock and stabbed once in the chest. He was rushed to hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Family and friends of Spence said he'd been working as a roofer. He had an eight-year-old daughter and four-year-old son who did not live with him.

www.mikeoncrime.com

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