‘Mr Big’ confession plays key role for jury deliberating murder
It’s been nearly 14 years since Isho Hana, a Saskatoon father and highlevel drug dealer, was shot and killed on a late afternoon in the middle of a busy street. The historical murder case is now in the hands of a jury.
On Thursday, following a threeweek trial at Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, Justice Gerald Allbright gave jurors the option of finding Neil Lee Yakimchuk, 37, guilty of first-degree murder, guilty of second-degree murder or not guilty of either offence.
In summarizing closing arguments, Allbright said the Crown argues there are enough puzzle pieces to prove Yakimchuk chased down and shot Hana in the 2100 block of Preston Avenue on April 15, 2004, and that it was planned and therefore first-degree murder.
In 2011, Yakimchuk told an undercover police officer posing as the boss of a fictitious criminal organization that his friend paid him to kill Hana as payback for a beating.
Court heart how a month before the shooting, Yakimchuk’s friend Jonathan Dombowsky told police from a hospital bed that he was attacked outside his home. A man later came forward to say Hana hired him to kill Dombowsky, but that it ended in an assault.
Speaking to the fake crime boss, Yakimchuk said his gun initially jammed when he and another man chased Hana into Preston Avenue, but that he eventually fired shots into the victim’s back.
Yakimchuk confessed during an undercover operation, or socalled “Mr. Big ” sting, that began in 2010. Police pretended to recruit Yakimchuk into the fake organization through several “scenarios” of escalating violence, done to gain Yakimchuk’s trust, which culminated in a meeting with the “boss.”
In his arguments, Crown prosecutor Michael Segu questioned why someone would confess to a murder — three times, the last being to the crime boss — if it wasn’t true. He pointed out that the boss stressed the importance of honesty to Yakimchuk, and that Yakimchuk had no motivation to lie.
Defence lawyer Eleanor Funk characterized the crime boss meeting as a “job interview” and that Yakimchuk told a story to “fit in” to the criminal group.
She told jurors there were many things the accused told the crime boss that didn’t match the actual evidence.
For instance, she said there was no evidence of a gun ever jamming, as police officers testified no unspent shells were found at the crime scene. Funk also argued it wasn’t possible for Yakimchuk to drive from Calgary, where he lived at the time, to Saskatoon in the established timeline of the shooting.
While details about the case had been widely reported prior to Yakimchuk’s confession, Segu argued there was certain “holdback” evidence that was never publicized. Yakimchuk told the crime boss he shot Hana with a .45 calibre handgun. Four .45-calibre casings were found at the scene, but police said that was never publicly disclosed.
Yakimchuk chose not to testify at his trial.