Sask. murder victim's kin slams media
By TIM COOK
YORKTON, Sask. (CP) - The younger brother of a man shot dead by his girlfriend's father lashed out Thursday night at the way his sibling has been portrayed in the media as a drug dealer while the father has been held up as a hero.
Danny Hayward, 22, said all the good memories he has of his brother, James Hayward, have been tainted by the actions of Kim Walker, who is on trial for first-degree murder in the 2003 shooting.
"I think it's despicable the way this community has turned Kim Walker into some kind of small-town hero," Hayward said.
"Every time I turn on the TV and see the news, all I hear is 'drug dealer this' and 'drug house that' and that is not the case here."
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Hayward said his brother never forced anything on anyone and "was one of the nicest, kindest people you would ever meet.
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"The fact of the matter is my brother is a person and Kim Walker killed him and that's the only thing that matters here."
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The jury retired for the night Thursday without reaching a verdict.
During a week and a half of testimony, jurors heard how Walker believed he was saving his daughter from her addiction to morphine when he shot Hayward.
It's a divisive case that has never been too far below the surface in these parts for the last four years.
On one side is a salt-of-the-earth father - a welder who teaches people to play the bagpipes in his spare time - at the end of his rope.
On the other, a nice but troubled young man. A 24-year-old bodybuilder who had withered away because of morphine addiction, his life gone before he had a chance to turn it around.
The tale of Hayward's slaying has exploded into the national spotlight since the trial began.
In Yorkton, a city of 17,000, while the opinions varied, sympathy for all those involved seemed to be a common thread.
"I've sort of known both people involved here," said Lawrence Koban, a retired hospital maintenance worker, who sat through several days of the trial.
"It's sad. I can't blame Hayward and I can't blame Walker . . . I can't condemn one from the other."
The trial has shone a harsh light on the destructive force illegal drugs can have on the lives of addicts and their loved ones in any community. Yorkton is no different, Koban suggested.
"I don't want to say drugs are a problem, but drugs are a problem."
Mel Currah is the father of Walker's oldest son's fiancee, and sat with the Walker family for most of the trial.
What sticks out most for him about the case is how the health and justice systems seemed to fail everyone.
"It let them down," Currah said. "They gave up on James; they gave up on Kim."
He cited how Walker could only get his daughter committed to a hospital against her will for three days - not long enough to overcome her addiction.
"Kim was protecting his family," Currah said. "It's not right to kill - don't get me wrong - but if you look at the circumstances, he did everything he could. The system has got to change."
Hayward should have been given more help with his drug problems when he faced drug trafficking charges prior to the shooting, Currah added.
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"The system puts them in jail, but they don't deal with what was going on in James's life. He needed help."
Since the shooting, laws have been changed in some provinces to give parents more options to deal with their drug-addicted teens.
The Walkers got an order from a judge under the Mental Health Act to get their daughter committed to a hospital for only three days. But last April, Saskatchewan adopted a law similar to one in Alberta allowing parents to have their children forced into detox treatment for up to 15 days.
A spokesman with the Saskatchewan government said 103 such orders have been issued. Manitoba has adopted a similar seven-day law.
Outside Yorkton, talk radio hosts and bloggers have seized on the case.
"So long to bad rubbish!" wrote one blogger from Winnipeg named Barb on jacksnewswatch.com. "One less dirty rotten drug dealer to worry about."
But on the blog www.bluelight.ru, billed as an international message board that educates the public about responsible drug use, most entries about the case come at it from the other point of view.
"I am going to shoot the owner of my local liquor store now, before my alcoholic mom can buy any more booze," wrote one blogger who goes by the handle Lurkerguy.
"The 15-year-old McDonald's cashier is next."
