Criminal cases of note in Calgary for the week of Oct. 28 to Nov. 1
Calgary homicide victim Jonathan Huebner was fatally shot with a single blast to his back as he left a southeast residential garage following a dispute over a drug debt, court heard Monday.
Crown prosecutor Michelle Parhar, in her opening address to a Calgary Court of King’s Bench jury, said Huebner’s death occurred after he was in a physical altercation with murder suspect Sam Frank Barbera.
Parhar said Huebner, his girlfriend and another man had gone to the garage where Barbera and his girlfriend were living around 8 a.m. on June 14, 2022.
“The three of them proceeded into the garage through the overhead door, which had been opened at their arrival,” said Parhar, who along with co-prosecutor Tara Wells will attempt to establish Barbera is guilty as charged of second-degree murder.
“When they entered, they saw Sam Barbera … and his girlfriend Ms. (Sydney) L’Hereux,” Parhar said in detailing the expected Crown case.
L’Hereux and Huebner’s girlfriend, Trisha Daintry, went to a backroom which was separate from the main garage area, while the three men remained.
“I expect you will hear evidence that Jonathan Huebner was there to collection a drug debt, some money that was owed by Sam Barbera,” she said.
“Words were exchanged between Jonathan Huebner and Sam Barbera. Eventually, the two men go into a physical fight,” Parhar said.
“After a few minutes, Trisha Daintry emerged from the back room. She began to walk out of the garage with (the two men).
“As the three of them left the garage, walking out to the vehicle parked just in front of the doors, a gun shot rang out. Jonathan Huebner had been shot, in the back, with a shotgun.”
Parhar said this was confirmed by an autopsy performed by Medical Examiner Dr. Lucy Bradley. “You will hear evidence that this shot caused his death.”
Two neighbours arrived on the scene and called 911 and offered first aid to the deceased “as he lay shot in the alley behind the garage.”
“Later that evening, police conducted a search of the attached garage as well as the main residence on the property. Inside the basement laundry suite of the residence a shotgun was found. It was a 12-gauge shotgun.”
That afternoon, Barbera was seen loading bags and crates with personal items into a waiting taxi.
Within the property seized shortly after the accused’s arrest, were five shotgun shells compatible with the gun found in the laundry room, Parhar told jurors.
The trial is scheduled to last two weeks.
Victim of fatal shooting had beaten up his alleged murderer while in custody, jury told
The victim of a fatal shooting whose body was dumped in a Mount Royal alley had previously beaten up his alleged killer while the pair was serving time, a prosecutor said Monday.
In his opening address to a Calgary Court of King’s Bench jury, Crown lawyer Peter Mackenzie said the killing of Shawn McCormack at a southeast Calgary residence was a planned and deliberate murder.
And Mackenzie told jurors the victim’s ex-girlfriend played a hand in his death, helping Devon Shedrick track him down before the deadly encounter.
Mackenzie said McCormack’s former intimate partner, Laura Lavorato, pushed Shedrick to confront the victim and hurt him.
“The prosecution alleges and will prove beyond a reasonable doubt against Laura Lavorato that she assisted Devon Shedrick to find Shawn McCormack and she pushed Shedrick to confront McCormack with the purpose of hurting him,” Mackenzie said.
The prosecutor said Lavorato, who faces a charge of manslaughter, only wanted Shedrick to commit an aggravated assault on her ex, not to kill him.
Lavorato is charged with manslaughter in connection with McCormack’s July 2, 2022, killing at her southeast residence.
Shedrick is charged with first-degree murder in the killing.
“The difference between Devon Shedrick and Laura Lavorato is what they intended to happen to Shawn McCormack,” Mackenzie said.
He said while the Crown is not obligated to prove motive both had reason to want the deceased harmed.
“Devon Shedrick was badly beaten by Shawn McCormack while both were incarcerated at the Calgary Remand Centre on June 6, 2022,” Mackenzie said.
“Laura Lavorato had an intimate partner relationship with Shawn McCormack and she had conflict with him about illicit drug use and she alleged he was violent to her.”
The prosecutor said Shedrick brought a firearm to the confrontation he was going to have with McCormack and “shot (him) at a distance intending to kill him.”
Mackenzie said jurors will hear from four civilian witnesses, including a remand centre inmate who had a conversation with Shedrick while they were in custody together in August 2022.
“All of the accused, the deceased and the four key civilian witnesses live in a world that includes drug use and marginal employment,” jurors were told.
“Some of the witnesses have criminal records. They use nicknames and street names for people and drugs and we will have to work through that so we understand the nicknames and the street names.”
But Mackenzie warned jurors not to use Lavorato and Shedrick’s lifestyles as evidence of their guilt.
The trial is scheduled to last three weeks.