Saskatoon jury finds man guilty of manslaughter in 2024 shooting death of Arden Panipekeesick
CBC
A Saskatoon jury has found Katlim Desjarlais-Kelly guilty of manslaughter in the 2024 shooting death of Arden Panipekeesick, following what court heard was a chaotic confrontation at a home in the Caswell Hill neighbourhood.
Desjarlais-Kelly had been charged with second-degree murder, but was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter on Friday.
The verdict was delivered after three weeks of testimony at Court of King’s Bench.
The trial centered on a few violent minutes inside a residence on Saskatoon's Avenue K N. on Feb. 10, 2024.
During closing arguments on Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Lee Hnatiuk said the "heart of the matter" is what happened in the moments before Panipekeesick, 48, died, and the jury heard two conflicting accounts of that: from Panipekeesick's wife, Eva Pritchard, and from Desjarlais-Kelly.
Panipekeesick and Pritchard lived in the basement of the home where the shooting happened. Desjarlais-Kelly was visiting people upstairs on Feb. 10, 2024.
Hnatiuk summarized Pritchard's testimony, which indicated that at one point, Pritchard and Panipekeesick went upstairs, and there was a confrontation between Panipekeesick and Desjarlais-Kelly. During that, Panipekeesick shot Desjarlais-Kelly in the arm, and Desjarlais-Kelly left the house.
Shortly after that, Desjarlais-Kelly returned and produced a gun, pointing it at Panipekeesick. Pritchard said she tried to grab Desjarlais-Kelly's arm and tell him to stop, but he shot Panipekeesick and then fled, Hnatiuk said.
Desjarlais-Kelly also said he left the house after he was shot in the arm, then returned. He said he shot in self-defence in Panipekeesick's direction, but not purposely at him — although he had to reload his gun after the first bullet didn't fire.
Taking the stand in his own defence earlier this week, Desjarlais-Kelly admitted he was at the home with a firearm, but insisted his actions were not driven by a desire to kill.
"He had been shot," defence lawyer Patrick McDougall told the jury.
"He had to reload, and he shot at [Panipekeesick] — not shot to kill him, but just shot to defend himself," said McDougall, characterizing the shot that killed Panipekeesick as a "wild shot" and saying it was a "miracle" that it struck him.
Desjarlais-Kelly's version of events made "no sense," Hnatiuk argued.
"We believe the evidence should convince you, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Mr. Desjarlais-Kelly was not acting out of fear, was not acting out of panic, and was not acting out of rage," Hnatiuk told the jury, arguing Desjarlais-Kelly deliberately shot Panipekeesick.
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