The father of Lukas Strasser-Hird, who was killed outside a Calgary bar in 2013, is unhappy with the sentencing of the three men convicted in the case.
Assmar Shlah and Franz Cabrera were convicted of second-degree murder and Joch Pouk was convicted of manslaughter in the case.
On Monday, Cabrera and Shlah were sentenced to life in prison. Cabrera will be eligible for parole in 15 years while Shlah will be eligible in 12 years.
Pouk received a seven-year sentence, and with pretrial custody taken into account, could be out of jail in less than two years, according to his lawyer.
“To be quite honest we are pretty disappointed,” said Dale Hird, Lukas’ father. “The second-degree murder can have a 25 year minimum, so we are fairly disappointed that the opportunity is missed to send a real strong message for this type of merciless attack.”
But the lawyer for Joch Pouk said the sentence for his client is appropriate.
“My client is sincerely remorseful his actions. Keep in mind, this is a 20-year-old young man with no prior criminal record, he is devastated about what happened and he really does feel terribly for the family,” he said. “We have some really young men who are going to be in jail for a very long time as the result of one night of stupid decision-making fueled by alcohol,”
But Dale Hird says his family continues to suffer as a result of that night, and for them, the nightmare isn’t over.
“We know they are going to appeal right away and continue to drag our family though this horror story,” he said.
In addition, a fourth suspect is still at large. Nathan Gervais is accused of first degree murder and has been missing since before the trial began.
