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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Convicted killer awaits sentencing decision

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 12/18/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Tennessee Weedmark tried to convince a jury he should walk free for killing a 12-year-old home invader with a baseball bat.

While he lost his self-defence argument, the convicted killer may soon be released from custody despite the guilty verdict this fall.

Weedmark, 21, returned to court Monday to be sentenced for manslaughter after jurors rejected his claim he had no choice but to beat Albert Goosehead to death in June 2009 on Bloodvein First Nation, 210 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

The Crown is seeking one year in jail in addition to 31/2 years of time already served that will be given double-time credit of seven years. Weedmark's arrest predates new federal legislation that prohibits the two-for-one practice on pretrial custody.

Defence lawyer Darren Sawchuk has asked that his client be set free immediately.

The judge will hand down a decision on Wednesday.

The circumstances surrounding the killing amount to a love triangle of sorts, court was told.

Weedmark, then 18, had started dating a young woman in Bloodvein after a previous relationship with her sister, who was friends with Goosehead, ended. The ex-girlfriend was jealous her sister was dating Weedmark and claimed he assaulted her. She told Goosehead and others about the alleged abuse, prompting Goosehead to grab a baseball bat and go with several friends to a home where Weedmark stayed.

One of those friends told jurors Goosehead smashed his way into the home and a confrontation occurred.

Weedmark's girlfriend, who was pregnant, was struck with the bat. A second brawl erupted between the two sisters. At some point, Weedmark grabbed the bat and struck Goosehead three times in the head.

"If he didn't act, what was going to happen next? He didn't know, but he wasn't going to take the chance and find out," Sawchuk told jurors during closing arguments.

www.mikeoncrime.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 18, 2012 A9

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