Craig Pope has been found guilty of second-degree murder. The jury returned with the verdict less than an hour ago at Supreme Court in St. John’s.

It took jurors less than a day of deliberations to reach a decision. That’s following three weeks of testimony in Pope’s trial.

Pope will be sentenced to a life sentence, with no eligibility of parole for at least 10 years. Justice Glen Noel will decide when Pope will be eligible.

Pope was charged in connection with the stabbing death of Jonathan Collins in September 2017.
Witnesses testified that the men had been passengers in a taxi that stopped on Alderberry Lane in the west end of the capital city that day.

The two men were said to have gotten in an argument over $60 and a tv that was to be sold to pay cab fare.

It quickly led to a physical altercation and ended with 36-year-old Jonathan Collins lying in the middle of the road with a stab wound in his abdomen. He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead hours later.

It’s the second trial for Pope. In 2019, he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years. However, months later, the conviction was overturned and a new trial ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada.