Convicted killer Emanuel Kahsai appeals 50-year sentence
Calgarian found guilty in deaths of his mother, Selma Alem, 54, and the woman she cared for, Julie Tran, 25
A Calgary man sentenced to at least 50 years in prison for killing his mother and a disabled woman she cared for has filed an appeal, asking for a new trial or that his parole ineligibility be reduced to 25 years.
Emanuel Kahsai was convicted earlier this year on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his mother, Selma Alem, 54, and the woman she cared for, Julie Tran, 25.
The victims were stabbed to death in October 2015. The two women are believed to have been killed in Alem's Coventry Hills home, where their bodies remained for two days before they were discovered by police after a friend became concerned.
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Their blood was found on Kahsai's shoes when he was arrested hours after the bodies were discovered.
Alem had twice sought court-ordered protection — restraining orders — against her son in the weeks and months before her death.
Kahsai, who is serving his sentence at the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon, was sentenced in April to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for at least 50 years.
The notice of appeal was obtained by CBC News on Wednesday. The appeal asks for a new trial on both counts or a reduction in parole ineligibility to 25 years.
Kahsai, who represented himself during the trial after firing his lawyer, was forced to watch and listen from a remote room where his microphone had to be muted because of his frequent outbursts.
He would shout at the judge and jurors about various conspiracy theories, yelling for them to call the U.S. Army and FBI — behaviour that continued at the sentencing hearing in April.
Reports prepared by psychiatrists and psychologists before the trial found that Kahsai was faking a mental illness in an attempt to escape criminal liability.
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