Alberta man convicted of manslaughter for stabbing woman in head with knife

An Alberta judge has convicted a man of manslaughter in the 2023 killing of a woman who was stabbed in the head with a steak knife. Blake Bird was initially charged with second-degree murder, after Saundra Bearhead was discovered on a couch with the knife in her head outside a home on the Paul Band First Nation She died in hospital three days later.

Court of King's Bench Justice Kent Teskey says he had doubts as to whether Bird had the intent to commit murder.

Court heard Bearhead had been drinking with Bird and another woman earlier in the day and that Bird confessed the killing to police and his family.

The judge's written decision says Bird told police he was blackout drunk and accidentally stabbed the woman.