The Yukon Supreme Court was asked to act with some compassion in the sentencing hearing of a man who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

While the stabbing death of Whitehorse taxi driver Brian Wheldon was a 'grossly misguided' action on the part of Michael Hamilton, the killing was different than a drug-related or random murder, defence lawyer Malcolm Campbell told the court this week.

'We are not trying to justify Mr. Hamilton's actions, but there has to be some degree of compassion for what he did,' Campbell said.

'This is a distinguishable case from a case where a person has no explanations for why they killed someone.'

According to the defence, Hamilton killed Wheldon because the deceased had sexually assaulted his wife, Diane Jim, by grabbing her and kissing her.

Campbell referred to the recent murder case of Karen Rodrigue as a precedent case. Rodrigue, who received the minimum sentence for second-degree murder, said she stabbed Gerald Dawson after he raped her. The Crown in the case, however, contended the rape never occurred, and that she killed him for money to buy drugs.

Hamilton committed a similar type of killing in terms of brutality, Campbell said, and should also be given the minimum sentence of 10 years without parole.

Presiding Justice Leigh Gower, who will determine how much time Hamilton will spend in jail before eligibility for parole, agreed that the sexual assault helped to explain the 25-year-old's actions but questioned Campbell's request for compassion.

Hamilton put himself in the confrontational situation, Gower said.

According to court documents, Hamilton had already punched Wheldon in the face on a previous occasion, sworn at him, given him the finger, and had uttered threats to kill him for assaulting Jim.

On the night of the murder, June 19, 2004, he phoned for Wheldon to pick him up in his taxi van.

'This was a continuation of this conduct of wanting to challenge Wheldon for what he'd done to (Hamilton's) wife,' Gower said.

The Crown is asking for a sentence of life imprisonment without parole for 15 years while the defence is suggesting 10 years.

Gower is expected to deliver his sentence Friday.

The issue of remorse was a point of disagreement for the Crown and the defence.

The murder was described as 'retribution,' by Crown prosecutor John Phelps, who said Hamilton had shown no remorse.

However, the defence contended that while it had taken Hamilton time to come to terms with the fact that he killed a man, he has been remorseful all along.

'He is sorry he killed a man. He's sorry he took a man from his friends and family,' Campbell said.

He described Hamilton as being on a 'continuum of him taking responsibility for his actions.'

Some of Hamilton's admissions of remorse were questioned by Gower, however.

He asked what weight should be put on an expression of remorse when it is said during an inaccurate account of the killing, during which Hamilton attempted to minimize his responsibility.

Other factors brought forward for determining the length of Hamilton's sentence were his psychological disorders and potential for rehabilitation.

While Hamilton suffers from treatable psychological problems, a doctor's report submitted in court said he has a deeply entrenched anti-social personality disorder and will likely be resistant to treatment.

A range of programs, including anger management and substance abuse, are available for inmates in federal penitentiaries. However, their success depends on the individual's willingness to participate.

The Crown said that while Hamilton has been incarcerated in the Whitehorse Correctional Centre (WCC) since June 2004, he has not participated in the available programs.

The defence said Hamilton would have attended Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), but that the program was not available for the bulk of 2005.

Yesterday afternoon, however, the Crown called the chair of corrections committee for AA , David Ryce, to the stand.

Ryce often holds the AA meetings at WCC and said the meetings were usually held weekly on Mondays starting at about 7 p.m.

While the meetings were not as frequent in the summer, because of difficulty obtaining volunteers, he said they were held more or less on a weekly basis the rest of the time.

Ryce said it was 'infrequent' that a session would be missed.

WCC Chaplain Norman (Larry) Kwiat also took the stand yesterday.

He said that Hamilton would frequently meet with him for one-on-one counselling, which also takes place on Monday nights.

Kwiat estimated that Hamilton would meet with him for between 45 minutes to an hour about 80 per cent of Monday nights.

They would talk about anger management, communication, family issues and substance abuse, he told the court.

In response to a question from the Crown he said that he was not an expert in drug and alcohol abuse counselling, but that it was an area of interest and study for him.

Mark Daniels, manager of security at WCC, said that Hamilton is rated as both a maximum security and high maintenance inmate.

His high maintenance status is a result of behaviours such as being confrontational with staff and writing 103 requests for issues like his living location, privileges, open visits and his security status.

Daniels also said that Hamilton's status was reduced to medium security in August 2004 but was subsequently raised back up to maximum in January 2005.

Hamilton addressed the court yesterday, with a letter he'd written.

He said he was sorry for the pain he'd caused Wheldon's family and friends, as well as the hardship he'd brought onto his own family.

'There can be no excuse for my actions,' he said in a low voice. 'I find myself deep in a sense of grief and remorse.'

Hamilton and Jim were married while he was in jail.

'We hope somehow to maintain the ties we've built,' he told the court.