Photo of Leo Roy Daniels taken by Const. Justin Pesony on Aug. 6, 2019 (Court exhibit photo)/jpg

First-degree murder appeal dismissed for man who killed Richard Fernuk

The appeal judges said no legal errors were made when Leo Daniels was convicted of tying Fernuk to a chair with cords around his neck.

by · Saskatoon StarPhoenix

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has dismissed a Saskatoon man’s appeal to overturn his first-degree murder conviction.

Leo Roy Daniels was found guilty in September 2022 after a judge-alone trial at Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench. He received the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Daniels appealed his murder conviction on two grounds. He argued the trial judge failed to consider the defence of intoxication, and didn’t give reasons for believing he intended to kill Richard Fernuk, a 68-year-old father and grandfather who was found dead in his Exhibition neighbourhood apartment on Aug. 3, 2019.

Leo Daniels found guilty of first-degree murder of Richard FernukA Saskatoon King’s Bench judge says the only reasonable inference for Leo Roy Daniels’s DNA being in Richard Fernuk’s apartment is that Daniels robbed Fernuk, tied him to a chair with cords around his neck and left him to die.Bre McAdam, 16 Sep 2022Leo Daniels matched description of man last seen with Richard Fernuk, murder trial hearsRichard Fernuk’s last known movements were captured on different surveillance videos cobbled together from the early morning hours of Aug. 2, 2019.Bre McAdam, 13 Apr 2022