Man found guilty in fatal 2016 North End stabbing; former girlfriend acquitted

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This article was published 12/12/2018 (1955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man accused of killing a 50-year-old Winnipeg man in a North End apartment in 2016 has been found guilty, while the woman who was his girlfriend at the time was acquitted.

A Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench jury found Billy Joe Linklater guilty of second-degree murder in the June 22, 2016, death of David Sanderson. He had been stabbed 33 times.

Lorie Knott, 23, was acquitted by the jury Wednesday night after it deliberated for about five hours.

Martin Glazer, who represents Linklater, said he has been given instructions to appeal the verdict.

“It’s not the first time a jury has made a mistake,” Glazer said. “We will be appealing.”

Linklater has yet to find out how many years he must wait before applying for parole for his life sentence. A sentencing hearing will be held next year.

Mike Cook, Knott’s lawyer, said the woman broke into tears when the jury acquitted her.

“It was a very dramatic moment,” Cook said Thursday.

“She has been waiting for two and a half years to hear those words. Now, for the first time in two and a half years, she is going home to be with her family and her five-year-old daughter.”

David Walker acted as Cook’s co-counsel.

Knott testified she went to the bathroom and when she came out she saw Sanderson slumped in a chair. She said she got blood on her clothes when she hugged him and told the jury Linklater told her he had stabbed Sanderson because the man had wanted to “buy me for sex.”