Mentally handicapped man sent to prison for manslaughter

LETHBRIDGE A mentally handicapped man in southern Alberta described as a “gentle giant” has been sent to prison for stabbing to death his sister’s boyfriend during a drunken fight.

Stacey Wahpistikwan was sentenced Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court to six years after pleading guilty last year to manslaughter.

During sentencing Judge Derek Redman acknowledged Wahpistikwan’s mental disabilities.

Redman also noted the impact on his life from substance abuse, physical abuse, abandonment, attempted suicide and intergenerational problems from poverty and lack of education.

But Redman said the number and depth of the stab wounds, and the fact that Wahpistikwan hid his victim’s body, were aggravating factors in the crime.

Court heard that Wahpistikwan killed Silas Kiseyinewakup on Sept. 22, 2015, near Taber, after he assaulted his sister twice.

The following morning, Wahpistikwan’s sister awoke to find Kiseyinewakup wasn’t in a trailer with her.

She found blood outside in the dirt and followed drag marks to an irrigation canal, where she found Kiseyinewakup’s body.

Wahpistikwan, 41, later confessed to police.

Defence lawyer Greg White said his client functions at the level of a six-yearold and his moral culpability should be less because of his diminished mental capacity.

Redman noted that Wahpistikwan’s IQ is only 45.