premeditation

The issues revolved around the degree of planning and premeditation, amount of mental and physical suffering inflicted on Holly and MacPhail's motivation for having a knife, the court heard.

In mitigation, Nigel Edwards KC said MacPhail's premeditation was "limited" and there was a "spontaneous eruption" of violence in a "fast-moving" situation.

The following day, April was charged with first-degree murder, a charge that suggests intent, deliberation, premeditation, and a disregard for human life.

He acted with deliberation and premeditation, and in asking to be billed and paying for the ticket was trying to avoid investigations into the gifts, the judge added.

"Then I stepped toward him and, without premeditation, but ever respectfully, I said 'forgive me sir' and plucked the cigar from his mouth."