Toronto panhandler gets life for murder

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TORONTO, April 5 (UPI) -- A 24-year-old panhandler in Toronto was sentenced to life in prison for stabbing a man to death when he refused her request for money, a court heard.

Despite her plea of innocence, Nicole Kish was found guilty of second-degree murder March 1 and sentenced to life with no parole for 12 years Monday, CP24 TV reported.

The charge relates to an incident where a 32-year-old man from the Niagara region was beaten and received at least four fatal stab wounds in the early hours of August 2007.

The man and a friend were withdrawing cash from an ATM when Kish approached him and asked for $20, prosecutors said. The men reportedly made insulting remarks and a fight broke out, the court heard.

Various other panhandlers joined the scuffle and the victim died of his stab wounds three days later, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Kish did not testify in her own defense but said in a tearful statement Monday she wasn't a killer.

Her family has vowed to appeal the sentence and told reporters someone else could have stabbed the victim, the reports said.