Red Wings defenceman Chris Chelios testified Thursday that he spoke by phone on his way to hockey practice with a manager at his restaurant minutes before someone fatally stabbed her and a chef.

Chelios, owner of the downtown Cheli's Chili Bar, said Megan Soroka, 49, told him she heard yelling and called out to Mark Barnard, 52.

''She yelled out Mark's name and she didn't hear anything,'' Chelios testified.

Chelios said Soroka soon returned to the phone and said she should get back to work. A short time later the morning of Jan. 2, authorities say both were stabbed by Justin Blackshere, who had been recently fired from Cheli's as a busboy.

Blackshere, 17, of Detroit, faces mandatory life in prison without parole if convicted as charged. His trial on two murder counts began Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court.

The 44-year-old Chelios said he was at practice when he received a call to go to the restaurant. There, he identified Blackshere in a photograph taken from video surveillance footage.

Police say Blackshere confessed to the killings, and that confession was read to the jury. In it, Blackshere said he went to the restaurant to get his job back.

Blackshere said he left the building after arguing with Barnard, but returned and stabbed the chef several times in the back. He then stabbed Soroka when she walked into the room.

Judgment day
Man, 18, given life in prison after Chelios bar murders

DETROIT (AP) -- An 18-year-old will spend the rest of his life in prison for the stabbing deaths of two employees at a restaurant owned by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios.

Justin Blackshere, of Detroit, was sentenced Friday morning to life without parole for the Jan. 2 slayings.

The former busboy at Cheli's Chili Bar was convicted last month on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of chef Mark Barnard, 52, and restaurant manager Megan Soroka, 49.

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Helen Brown called Blackshere "pathological" before announcing the sentence.

Blackshere had been fired twice -- the final time in November -- and told investigators he went to the downtown restaurant to get his job back.

He stabbed Barnard 28 times with a cooking knife after being told to leave. He then stabbed Soroka 14 times before fleeing with about $10,000 from the restaurant's safe.

Blackshere was videotaped by a security camera, recognized by former co-workers and was wearing a bloody shirt when arrested later that day.

He told relatives of his victims Friday he was sorry for their loss and thanked his family for not giving up on him.

In a statement, Chelios said he was grateful for the diligence of police and prosecutors in the case.

"Mark and Megan were exceptional people and we will do our best to keep their spirit alive," Chelios said. "I ask you to continue to keep Mark and Megan and their families in your thoughts and prayers."