The man who murdered a 5th Avenue taxi driver a year ago called and specifically requested that driver pick him up for the deadly fare, says an agreed statement of facts filed Monday with the courts.

Before Yukon Supreme Court Justice Leigh Gower yesterday, Michael Dale Hamilton, 24, also formalized his plea of guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Brian Wheldon, 68.

Hamilton was initially charged with first degree murder, but agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge earlier this winter.

He remains in custody and is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Under normal Canadian practice, those serving a life sentence for second-degree murder are not eligible for parole before serving 10 years. Those serving time for first-degree murder typically must serve no fewer than 25 years before being eligible for parole.

The statement of fact indicates Hamilton had been at odds with Weldon over an altercation involving Wheldon and Hamilton's girlfriend, Diane Jim, when he called 5th Avenue at 6:30 p.m. June 19, 2004 to request a cab at his Takhini Trailer Court home.

Fewer than 20 minutes later, there was what eyewitness accounts portray as a bloody and deadly encounter at the remote intersection of Range Road and the entrance to the Mountain View Golf Course.

'There's a cab driver that got his throat slit or something but it's really bad,' eyewitness Brad Magnuson described in his 911 call at 6:48 p.m. to ask for police and ambulance assistance, as he had just driven by the scene on his ATV.

'. . . The guy was getting out and he's covered in blood and the other guy was just punching him or something. I don't know.'

Three minutes later, another eyewitness approached with his wife, daughter and his daughter's friend in the car. They stopped next to the scene, as they could see Wheldon pinned beneath the van.

Hamilton exited the driver's seat of the van covered in blood and told Curt Campbell, 'I have everything under control, it's all OK,' Campbell told the RCMP.

Knowing things were not right, Campbell left the scene and his spouse, Donna Chambers, called 911 for help.

When RCMP Const. Greg Tannahill arrived on the scene at 6:55, two women a Ms. Vanderlaars and a Ms. Nisson, the court document says were assisting Wheldon. However, Hamilton had fled shortly afterward, though the women were able to provide a description as he was there when they arrived.

Magnuson, the first 911 caller, later told police that he had been driving by on an ATV with a friend on the back when they witnessed the assault taking place, and drove on a further 200 metres because he was scared, before making the call.

In his subsequent statement, he said it appeared as though the passenger was attacking the driver from behind, says the agreed statement of facts.

The ATV passenger, Zack Sheaves, told police he saw Wheldon with blood spewing from his neck and blood dripping down his face.

'As Mr. Wheldon was existing the van, Mr. Hamilton was crawling over the driver's seat after him. Mr. Wheldon asked for help as he exited the van.'

The Whitehorse Fire Department arrived at 7:06 and raised the van so that Wheldon displaying a weak, rapid pulse could be removed and rushed to Whitehorse General Hospital.

He was pronounced dead at 7:31 p.m.

Forensic pathologist Laurel Gray said the autopsy results showed Wheldon died from both the stab wounds and trauma caused by the vehicle driven over top of him.

There were a total of 10 stab wounds in all, including one that nicked the left jugular vein and one that severed it completely.

The stab wounds, Gray concluded, were consistent with being attacked from behind.

The agreed statement of facts says that Hamilton, at the time of the deadly confrontation, had formed the specific intent to kill Wheldon, and to then hit him with the van, though he initially told police the vehicle ended up on top of the deceased because Wheldon forgot to put it in park as he left the van.

Evidence indicated that Hamilton and Wheldon had a couple of rude exchanges in the time since Wheldon had made advances on Hamilton's girlfriend about a month and a half earlier.

Hamilton was arrested near the scene at about 7:30 p.m., after two senior officers on the way to the scene spotted him off in the bush, about 20 metres from the road. He complied with their order to come down.