Three men, charged with second degree murder in connection with the death of a Calgary man in September 2015, pleaded guilty to lesser charges in court on Thursday.
Martin Rangers, 35, Lee Kelner, 34, and Jason Harwood, 45, were each charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of 41-year-old Christian Jovanovic.
Jovanovic’s body was found inside one of the rooms at the Banff Trail Motel on September 14, 2015.
Rangers pleaded guilty to manslaughter while Kellner and Harwood each pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the case.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Kellner had given Jovanovic a set of tire rims to sell for him. Jovanovic did sell the rims but kept the money instead of handing it over to Kellner. The trio then lured the victim to the hotel where Harwood and Kelner beat him and Rangers choked him. The group left Jovanovic in the room, believing he was still alive but returned later to find out he’d died.
The case was supposed to go to trial last week, but those proceedings were resolved before the two-week-long trial began.
The judge in the case has accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence for a three-year sentence for both Kelner and Harwood.
