A Dawson City man who claimed he killed in self-defence was found guilty of second-degree murder Thursday afternoon.

George Kieran Daunt, 50, was sentenced in Yukon Supreme Court to 25 years in prison for the murder of 53-year-old Robert Truswell in the Dawson gold fields on Aug. 28, 2003.

He will have a chance for parole after 10 years.

Before the jury's verdict was read Thursday, Daunt, who was not being held in custody, took a deep breath before going into the courtroom.

While the jury foreman read the verdict after three days of deliberations, Daunt looked straight down at the table with his head, resting in one hand.

When he heard he'd been pronounced guilty, he shook his head in disbelief.

As Justice Ron Veale sentenced Daunt, the man struggled to hold in his tears, as did some members of the six-man, six-woman jury in the packed courtroom.

When it was all over, two RCMP officers escorted Daunt to police cells, but not before his lawyers, Elaine Cairns and Richard Fowler, each gave him a hug.

'I feel very sad for Kieran. You obviously get to know your client well, especially during a long trial,' Fowler told reporters outside the courthouse.

'Kieran is a very nice man.... It's always a tragedy when somebody dies and it is always a tragedy when somebody goes to jail for taking another life. So it's a sad day all around.'

Fowler said it's too early to say if there will be an appeal. However, he did say it would be likely.

'The consequences are so serious of being convicted, I think it's important that a court of appeal review what happened,' he said.

Fowler will have 30 days to determine if he and his client will make an appeal. If an appeal is successful, a new trial could be ordered.

During that appeal period, Daunt could be released.

Fowler, who works out of Vancouver, said the jury members likely did what they believed was appropriate.

'They obviously gave everything serious thought,' he said. 'I don't know if there is anything harder for a person to do than to deliberate upon, as the judge said, another man's future.'

Crown prosecutors Mike Cozens and David McWhinnie had few words for reporters after the verdict.

They spoke highly of the defence counsel, saying everything was handled efficiently and professionally.

The Crown and defence lawyers shook hands after the trial, while a man in the gallery assured Daunt he would 'take care of things for him.'

After Daunt was taken away, his ex-girlfriend, a teary-eyed Josee Bonhomme, was seen outside the courtroom.

Bonhomme was a Crown witness, who, after testifying, sat in during the court proceedings every day, avidly taking notes.

Lawyers watched a video of Daunt sitting in police cells during a voir dire (trial within a trial) last month.

While talking to Daunt in cells, Dawson RCMP Sgt. Tim Ashmore told Daunt of how Daunt had received a number of support letters from the community.

'People think you're the good guy and he's (Trusell's) the bad guy,' Ashmore told Daunt.

Ashmore said normally after a murder, people usually call about the victim. But after Truswell died, more people were concerned about Daunt's survival.

'People are rejoicing. People are having beer that he's (Truswell's) gone now,' a female RCMP officer told Daunt on the tape.

Police gave Daunt a copy of some written accusations Truswell had made against Daunt and filed with police.

RCMP also spoke with Daunt about a land dispute Daunt was having with his father, Ivan.

Both alleged that the boundaries of the other's property overlapped onto theirs. Ivan had charged his son with assault during one such dispute.

Over the last three weeks, the jury heard evidence of Truswell's fiery temper.

Truswell was known as 'Two-by-four Bob' after he struck another man in the head with a piece of lumber in the mid-'80s.The court heard how Truswell, a placer miner, would accuse people who lived in the Dawson gold fields of stealing from them. Truswell also shot at two people over the years.

In 2001, Truswell threatened to kill his sisters and in 2003, threatened to kill Daunt, the jury had heard.

On Aug. 28, 2003, Truswell showed up on Gold Hill, where Daunt was working, and Daunt shot him twice.

One shot entered through the shoulder. A second went through his elbow and into his chest.

Truswell bled to death trying to get out of his truck, after having driven away from the scene. Daunt's lawyers said their client acted in self-defence.

They said Daunt honestly believed Truswell was going to kill him that day had he not acted.

Crown prosecutors said Daunt killed Truswell because Daunt was angry with him.

Truswell had entered into a business agreement with Daunt's father and had been advising him how to evict Daunt from the land he had lived on for more than 20 years.

Daunt had also believed his father had given Truswell a piece of mining machinery, instead of lending it to his son, Daunt, who needed it for his own mining operation.

Later, Daunt had learned his father had not lent the equipment to Truswell.

The Crown said Daunt told conflicting stories to people about the shooting.

Daunt told one of his best friends, Camelia Sigurdson, that he thought he'd hit Truswell with a bullet, but later told Ashmore that he did hit Truswell and followed up that comment by saying, 'I probably shouldn't have said that.'

McWhinnie said Daunt's evidence also contradicted Bonhomme's.

She said Daunt had told her Truswell had been watching him that day. Sigurdson testified Daunt had said something similar to her and that Daunt had said he'd ignored Truswell at first.

Daunt denied telling the two women this. He told the court as soon as he saw Truswell, he tried to run to his own vehicle in an effort to get away.

McWhinnie suggested what actually happened was that Truswell pulled up to Daunt's property to talk to Daunt.

Truswell waited in his truck until Daunt had done his work at his sluice box, then pulled up to Daunt's truck to speak with him.

The Crown said that after an argument had ensued, Daunt shouldered the gun or was standing on the box of his truck, as one of the bullets entered through the truck on a downward angle.

McWhinnie said Daunt would have known that he had hit Truswell because the fatal shot had been fired from two to four feet away.

The Crown recalled the evidence of Justice of the Peace John Tyrell.

Truswell had told Tyrell that he feared Daunt, and asked Tyrell to keep some mining papers of his.

McWhinnie said that in the hours leading up to the shooting, Truswell did not seem like a man 'spoiling for a fight.'

A few hours before the shooting, Truswell was helping tourists pan for gold.

Other witnesses who talked to Truswell the day before the shooting described Truswell as happy because things were finally going 'his way.'

McWhinnie said Truswell hadn't been looking for a fight and that Daunt had shot him only because he was mad at Truswell.