Man Receives 9-Year Sentence For Stabbing Cousin To Death

To the sound of sobbing relatives, Michael A. Samuels was sentenced Monday to nine years in prison for stabbing his cousin to death.

The fatal Feb. 17 argument, law enforcement officials say, was over 25-year-old Frankie SiJohn’s refusal to take Samuels to a basketball game between Washington State University and the University of Washington. Samuels stabbed SiJohn with a fillet knife in a corner of Plummer’s Log Dog bar. “Over a basketball game. It just boggles the mind to look at what happened and look at the result and then try to make any sense of it,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry McHugh.

Samuels, who had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, also was sentenced to five years’ probation and given a $1,000 fine. He must pay $4,447 to SiJohn’s family for funeral costs.

“The real punishment is that when you commit a crime like this, you have to live with that for the rest of your life,” said U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge.

The killing has devastated the families of the two men. Both men belonged to the 1,400-member Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe and had many relatives in common. More than 40 family members crowded the courtroom Monday.

“This is a very tight-knit family, and this has truly been a tragedy,” said defense attorney Steve Mahaffy. “They are here to support Mike - and to see that he gets a just punishment. They don’t want him to walk away scot-free.”

SiJohn’s mother sobbed as Samuels was led into the courtroom for sentencing. Samuels’ children, oblivious to the tragedy, played among the courtroom seats.

“I want my baby back. I want my son home,” wept Carol SiJohn. “He took my baby from me. It’s not fair.”

Lodge said he hopes the crime will force people to see how precious life is.

“The court wishes it could say something that would ease the hurt that you’re all feeling,” he told the men’s relatives, many wiping tears from their eyes. “That’s not in the power of the court.”

Lodge attributed the violence to drugs and alcohol, which he said turned Samuels from a smiling, well-liked leader to an argumentative man without any focus.

“And that’s typical of people that let drugs and alcohol become their master,” Lodge said. The tears shed by people due to drugs and alcohol, he said, “would more than fill this courtroom.”

Before he was sentenced, Samuels stood up to apologize to his relatives and the court.

“I stand here a sorry, sorry man, with a heavy heart, and I just ask for forgiveness,” he said, his voice breaking. “I realize I put a black eye on the community as a whole.”

SiJohn’s mother, refusing to hear his apology, left the courtroom.

As Samuels was led out of the courtroom by officers, several relatives called “Good luck” to him.

Afterward, Samuels’ mother, sitting alone in the back of the empty courtroom, declined comment.

Judge Lodge said the effects of the crime were obvious on the faces of the relatives in court.

“Many times, the people who don’t go to prison suffer more than (those who do),” he said. , DataTimes