Tuktoyaktuk (July 09/01) - A Tuktoyaktuk man will spend eight-and-a-half years in prison for the stabbing death of his common-law wife.

Ernest Raddi, (36), pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Territorial Supreme Court. Justice John Vertes sentenced Raddi to ten years in jail last Wednesday.

Convicted killer Ernest Raddi leaves the Inuvik courthouse in handcuffs to begin his 10-year sentence. - Kevin Wilson/NNSL photo

Crown attorney Brent Lepage prosecuting the case said that Vertes' sentence was "at the high end."

Raddi was originally charged with second-degree murder after Rosa Chicksi's body was found June 15 of last year. She had died of "a single stab wound to the chest which perforated the heart, leading to massive internal bleeding."

"The murder weapon was a six-inch serrated steak knife," said the officer who apprehended Raddi.

The court heard that on the night of June 15, a "highly intoxicated" and argumentative Raddi had come home "intoxicated and abusing everyone." Raddi left when his brother called police.

Police told the residents to lock their doors and call back if Raddi returned. At 12:05, police were called again.

A Tuktoyaktuk RCMP officer found Raddi staggering down the street and arrested him. When asked about the blood on his hands and shirt, Raddi said: "I stabbed her."

The crown said Raddi had a lengthy "booze-related" criminal record. According to Lepage, Raddi had recently served 15 months in jail for stabbing Chicksi in the back, but had been granted a conditional early release last year in April.

Raddi spent Wednesday evening in an Inuvik holding cell before being transferred to a southern penetentiary to serve his sentence.