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Two men accused of killing a Good Samaritan in a rural roadside carjacking have been found guilty of second-degree murder and armed robbery, 24 hours after jury deliberations began.
Elijah Strawberry and Arthur Penner were accused of fatally shooting Colin Hough, 45, on Aug. 6, 2024.
Another man, Matthew Andres, was also shot but survived.
When the trial at Calgary’s Court of King’s Bench began earlier this month, Strawberry and Penner also faced attempted murder charges but those were withdrawn mid-trial.
The judge informed jurors he was entering acquittals and asked that they not speculate as to why.
After hearing more than three weeks of evidence, jurors began deliberating Friday afternoon.
The Crown’s theory of the case was that Strawberry and Penner were driving a stolen truck when it got a flat tire on a rural road east of Calgary.
At the time, Andres was working in the area as a surveyor for Fortis Alberta.
He testified that after the truck with the flat tire pulled over, someone in a mask got out, walked toward him and shot him in the arm before demanding his keys.
Andres told the shooter that the keys were in his truck and said, “Take it.” He told jurors that he believed he was going to die.
WATCH | Excerpt of shooting victim’s call to 911. WARNING: Audio contains profanity:
Shooting victim’s 911 call. WARNING: Audio contains profanity.
An excerpt of shooting victim Matthew Andres call to 911 while hiding and injured at a rural intersection north of Chestermere, Alta.
As the shooter walked away, Andres said he ran for his life. The shooter then drove Andres’ truck nose-down into a ditch.
By then, the stolen truck with the flat tire had been set on fire.
Andres watched helplessly as Colin Hough spotted the smoke and flames and pulled over in his Rocky View County truck.
Two figures — not identified as Strawberry and Penner — rushed towards Hough’s truck and fired three or four shots.
Video footage from a nearby semi-trailer driver captured a figure moving across the intersection and collapsing in the middle of the road.
Strawberry and Penner then took off in Hough’s truck. It was later found abandoned.
Penner was arrested five days later. A month after warrants were issued, police found Strawberry hiding in a home on the O’Chiese First Nation.
Jurors heard evidence that DNA from items found at the scene and in Hough’s stolen truck came back as a match to both Strawberry and Penner.
In her final arguments to the jury on Thursday, prosecutor Photini Papadatou acknowledged the case came down to the identity of the shooter and second person at the rural intersection and that the evidence is circumstantial, but she urged jurors to convict.
“It’s the Crown’s position that the offences before you involve two shooters, two guns, two stolen vehicles, two robberies, one death and both these men are responsible,” said Popadatou.
Penner’s lawyer, Alex Seaman pointed out that the jury had not heard any evidence as to who shot Andres or Hough.
“No one is able to tell you who did it in this case,” said Seaman. “This puzzle has too many missing pieces to reveal a reliable picture.”
Rebecca Snukal, Strawberry’s lawyer, told jurors the Crown’s case is full of holes.
“You didn’t hear any witness say that man was at that scene … there’s no photo lineups, no moment where someone pointed at Mr. Strawberry,” said Snukal.
