Denecho King sentenced to 18 months for Yellowknife jailbreak
Denecho King, a Yellowknife man who sparked a three-day manhunt after escaping from the North Slave Correctional Centre this summer, was sentenced to 18 months behind bars Wednesday for being unlawfully at large.
The sentence left King, who pleaded guilty, visibly upset, pushing back his chair and knocking a plastic cup off his table — because the sentence was too short.
King, who pleaded guilty to the charge earlier this week, asked the court for a sentence of two years — without credit for time served — in order to force a transfer to a southern federal prison. Sentences of two years or above mandate a transfer to federal prison.
His lawyer, Jay Bran, argued that since the escape, King had been held in a high security unit, often on his own. A transfer to a federal prison, he argued, could allow King the chance to have more contact with other inmates.
Bran said that he's "rarely" been requested by a client to ask for more time than the Crown, who requested a sentence of up to 18 months.
In his decision, Judge Robert Gorin ruled that while escaping from jail is a serious offence, he cannot extend King's sentence simply because that's what he wanted.
Still facing murder, attempted murder charges
King spoke to the court prior to the sentencing, saying that he made the escape because he spent nine months in jail while awaiting a bail hearing, and his "patience ended up running out."
"All I wanted was a little freedom," he told the court.
King is still facing charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault, stemming from a December 2014 incident that left John Wifladt dead and Colin Digness seriously injured.
The two men were found in an apartment on the third floor of Sunridge Place. Wifladt later died in hospital, while Digness was medevaced to Edmonton for treatment.
During King's sentencing for the escape, the Crown presented victim impact statements from Alice and Jack Wifladt, John's parents, with Alice stating that her "heart stopped" when she heard King had escaped jail, and that she was "worried he would seek revenge on me."
Last week, after an eight-day preliminary inquiry, Judge Gorin ruled that there is enough evidence for King to stand trial on the charges related to the 2014 attack.
