BREAKING: Jury finds Kelowna man guilty of killing roommate with hammer

KELOWNA – The Kelowna man accused of killing his roommate with a hammer while he slept has been found guilty of second-degree murder.

Daniel Ruff, 61, phoned 911 the evening of June 14, 2015 and told dispatch he returned to his home on Bernard Avenue to find his roommate, Warren Welters, 51, dead in his bed.

His trial began in Kelowna Supreme Court on Oct. 2 before a jury of seven women and five men. They heard testimony from first responders, a former girlfriend, crime scene investigators, friends and even Ruff himself.

On the stand he admitted to killing Welters but claimed it was in self-defence.

The two men had a strained relationship and often fought both verbally and physically. Jurors heard that they had been arguing about money before the murder and that Ruff was upset at a drunken comment Welters made about a houseguest the day he killed him.

When Ruff returned home from the grocery store around 8 p.m. most of the guests had left. Crown says he went to the closet, got a hammer, went upstairs to Welters bedroom and hit him four times in the back of his head while he slept.

He then cleaned the blood off the hammer, changed his shirt and went downstairs where one houseguest remained. Crown lawyer Colin Forsyth says Ruff admitted to the man he had just killed Welters.

The jury began deliberating Oct. 23 and returned their verdict roughly 24 hours later.

He will be sentenced at a later date but faces a minimum of ten years in prison and a maximum of 25 years.

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