Man high on meth guilty of killing father of five
Victim, 27, shot in chest after dispute with man urinating on fence in yard
Tyler Applegate’s young children sat in a Saskatoon Queen’s Bench courtroom as a judge found Dallin Lane Singharath guilty of murdering their father.
On Thursday, Justice Richard Elson ruled Singharath intentionally fired a sawed-off .22 calibre rifle at Applegate, knowing it would kill him or cause bodily harm that he knew would likely kill him, and was therefore guilty of second-degree murder.
Singharath, 21, will receive the mandatory life sentence for second-degree murder. Arguments on parole eligibility, which can range from 10 to 25 years, are scheduled to be heard on Friday, when victim impact statements will also be read.
Applegate, a 27-year-old father of five, died as a result of complications from an abdominal gunshot wound three weeks after he was shot in his 33rd Street West backyard on July 22, 2017.
During his judge-alone trial in February, Singharath admitted firing the shot that killed Applegate, but said it was an accident. Defence lawyer Laura Mischuk argued her client should be found guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter because he didn’t intend to shoot Applegate, let alone kill him.
“There is simply no air of reality to the defence of accidental discharge,” Elson said when reading his decision.
The trial heard Singharath was part of a group that returned to Applegate’s duplex after Applegate confronted a man for urinating on the fence that separated his yard from the former Mac’s Convenience
Store parking lot.
During closing arguments, Crown prosecutor Cory Bliss said Singharath produced a loaded firearm, positioned himself for a straight shot at Applegate, levelled the gun and fired it at the left side of Applegate’s chest, near his heart, seconds after confronting Applegate just outside the man’s backyard.
“A gun only really has one use, and that’s to kill,” Bliss said.
He argued there is no evidence that Singharath spoke or waved the weapon in intimidation before pulling the trigger, and no evidence that Applegate — holding a dog chain and child’s bicycle as he walked toward the back gate — did anything to provoke the shooting.
Mischuk said three people testified that the shot could have hit one of them, based on the line of fire.
This “odd angle,” combined with evidence that Singharath was high on methamphetamine, potentially affected his behaviour, Mischuk argued.
However, she did not argue that it ultimately affected his state of mind at the time of the offence.
According to witness testimony, Singharath never expressed that it was an accident and did not stay to help Applegate, instead immediately jumping into a waiting truck, Bliss said.
Applegate’s sister, Starla Sippola, said she was relieved that someone was found guilty of murder in her brother’s death.
“I don’t think I needed any justification for that, I knew it myself. People don’t bring a gun somewhere accidentally. You don’t accidentally shoot somebody.”
She said her brother’s death was absolutely senseless.
“Even if he had been in a fight with somebody, and then all of a sudden they were hurt, he would have helped them. There was no reason to kill my brother,” Sippola said outside court.
“There’s a song that defines my brother and the main lyrics are ‘I don’t f— with you.’ Because my brother didn’t f— with people. He didn’t have a reason to. He was peaceful.”