Jury reaches verdict in the trial of Aidan and Angus Kee

After one day of deliberation, the jury has settled on a verdict for Aidan and Angus Kee, the two brothers charged in the death of Nick Tanti.

Tanti was fatally stabbed during an altercation outside a downtown Guelph bar in February 2020.

On Tuesday night, the jury found Aidan Kee not guilty of second-degree murder, but guilty of manslaughter.

His brother Angus Kee, who had been charged with being an accessory after the fact, was found not guilty.

Angus had originally been charged with manslaughter but that was dropped early in the trial.

As the verdict was read, deep breaths could be heard coming from the side of the courtroom where Tanti's family and friends were seated.

"I am sure you found that much harder work than you can you imagine," the judge told the jury after they delivered the verdict.

Many of them nodded their heads in agreement.

After the jury was released from their duty, both brothers went to the back of the courtroom to hug their family members.

Tanti's sister yelled: "At least you're still going to jail, you [expletive]."

Sentencing for Aidan Kee is set for 10 a.m. Thursday.

He was not taken into custody Tuesday night, and instead, walked out the courthouse with his family.

Tanti's family, meanwhile, was visibly upset when they found out Kee would remain out on bail. They left the courthouse by the back door and avoided the media.

In an interview with CTV News on May 31, Tanti's mother said she felt the court proceedings were one-sided and she'd like to see both brothers in jail.

"I've lost of my life," she said. "I wish they had just stabbed me instead. I just basically have died. I died in that hallway that morning with my son. I go down and sit in front of Tony's sometimes and I cry, and I cry at home."

REACTION FROM THE LAWYERS

Paula Rochman, the defence attorney for Angus Kee, spoke to CTV News after the verdict.

"One of the things that has devastated Aidan is Angus being charged with this whole thing," she said. "As he has always said, he would take responsibility for this. As has been said from day one, Angus didn't do anything. That has been a really big thing for Aidan to have over him, [that] he did this to his brother. He's obviously devastated about what happened to Nick Tanti and he also involved his brother in this and that's been very hard for him. For [Aidan], it's almost a bigger relief for him than that Angus was acquitted."

Rochman called the brothers "hard-working guys" and added that Angus is ready to restart his life.

"It's hard to think of things before you get a verdict, because you don't know even if you feel optimistic," she said. "It's hard to make a plan, but [Angus] has already reached out to people to have a job."

Leila Mehkeri, the assistant Crown attorney, shared her reaction to the verdicts.

"I am pleased with all the hard work the jury put into this and I am thankful for their service," she told CTV News.

JURY DELIBERATIONS

The judge completed his charge to the jury around 3 p.m. Monday.

The next day, the first day of deliberation, the jury submitted a question to the judge and counsellors. They wanted clarification on the definition of murder and manslaughter, and also asked for the definition of accident versus manslaughter.

Aidan Kee testified in court that he did not mean to stab Tanti and he only took out the knife, which he thought was closed, in self-defense.

"Nick was my friend," he said in court. "I would never try to stab him."

Angus Kee's lawyer argued that it was unlikely he saw what happened because he was knocked down during the fight and could not have known that the altercation would lead to Tanti's death. Aidan testified that he gave his brother the knife after the fight because he thought he was in trouble.

The defence told the jury that the brothers did not know Tanti was dead or dying when they left the scene.

The Crown, meanwhile, argued that Aidan attacked Tanti as "payback" for an earlier altercation.

During his address to the jury on Monday, the judge said: "None of the parties in this case dispute that Aidan Kee caused Mr. Tanti's death. But did he do it unlawfully?"

-- With reporting by Krista Sharpe