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Sam Eves’s killer to be sentenced next week

Justice for the killer of Squamish teen Sam Eves will have to wait another week, as a B.C. Provincial Court Justice has scheduled sentencing for May 14.

Justice for the killer of Squamish teen Sam Eves will have to wait another week, as a B.C. Provincial Court Justice has scheduled sentencing for May 14.

Toronto native Ander Walker-Huria, 21, has pled guilty to a charge of manslaughter in the 2007 death of Alistair (Sam) Eves. He appeared in North Vancouver Provincial Court on May 5 as Crown and defence lawyers made final submissions before his sentencing.

Walker-Huria was accused of stabbing Eves at a March 2007 gathering on North Ridge Drive in Squamish after a verbal altercation. Police later arrived and found Eves lying in the driveway with his stomach ripped "completely open," according to reports.

From there followed a 13-hour manhunt that took roadblocks and a police helicopter to find the assailant.

Police arrested Walker-Huria after a Squamish resident reported seeing him walking along a forest service road, according to a report in the Province . He had moved to Squamish weeks earlier to live with his brother, Christopher.

The Crown is seeking a five-year sentence while the defence is seeking three years in prison.

Defence lawyer Martin Peters painted a picture of a "troubled young man," in his submission, casting Walker-Huria as the victim of substance abuse and serious mental health issues.

Peters told court that Walker-Huria exhibited anti-social behaviour going back to the age of 12. Up to the age of 10 he was known as a shy child and a good student. That all changed when he moved with his accountant mother and computer programmer father to Barrie, about 90 km north of Toronto.

Peters said Walker-Huria didn't adjust well to school there and that "problems of hyperactivity" began to show around this time. At age 11 he attempted suicide by hanging after the death of a close friend due to an aneurysm.

Beyond his own mental health issues, Peters said there's a history of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and that his mother has had anger issues, so much that Walker-Huria had endured physical abuse at her hands.

At the age of 16 he found himself on the street, selling drugs such as marijuana, ecstasy and magic mushrooms. He later left the drug trade when he felt intimidated by "really hairy characters," according to Peters.

In a psychiatric exam that followed his arrest, a psychiatrist identified three conditions he could be suffering from: adult ADHD; anti-social behaviour disorder and substance abuse dependency.

Peters also said that Walker-Huria has written a letter to the Eves family expressing sorrow for the killing, but he wasn't certain the family received it. He apparently offered an apology from the "bottom of my heart" and said that "not a day" goes by that he doesn't think about the incident.

Walker-Huria's mother wiped away tears in the court gallery as Peters read out excerpts from the letter.

Walker-Huria has a lengthy criminal history dating back to December 2006, when he was charged with breaking and entering. On the same day he's alleged to have committed theft over $5,000 and operated a vehicle with a blood alcohol level over 0.08.