Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 30, 2008

THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - A Fort Smith man will be sentenced for manslaughter when he appears in court on July 3.

Joseph Emile, 20, had originally been charged with second-degree murder for the stabbing death of his brother Jackson Benwell, 22, on June 24, 2007.

However, Emile pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter when he appeared in NWT Supreme Court in Yellowknife on April 28.

Emile's lawyer, Hugh Latimer of Yellowknife, said both the defence and the Crown took a second look at the case following a preliminary hearing held in Fort Smith in December.

"He re-elected and pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and we're going down there for the sentencing," said Latimer.

Crown counsel John MacFarlane said the Crown consented to accept the guilty plea to the lesser offence of manslaughter.

MacFarlane said the Crown's reasons for accepting the guilty plea to manslaughter, as opposed to continuing with a charge of second-degree murder, will be read into the record during Emile's court appearance on July 3.

The stabbing happened at about 7:30 a.m. on June 24, 2007.

According to information from the RCMP at the time, there had been at least one other altercation between the brothers during the night prior to the stabbing.

Police were called to a residence on St. Ann's Street, known locally by the nickname Sesame Street, and were on the scene within minutes since an officer had been out on a separate call.

The stabbing didn't happen in a house, but in the area of St. Ann's Street.

Emile, who was 19 at the time, has been in custody since his arrest on the day of the stabbing.

Benwell, who worked as a carpenter, was unmarried and had no children.

Murder or manslaughter is very rare in Fort Smith.

The last killing in the community was in the late 1980s.