It took just over three days of deliberation for a Calgary jury to reach a verdict in the murder trial for four men accused in the death of Lukas Strasser-Hird in 2013.
Strasser-Hird was found badly beaten in an alley behind the 200 block of 10 Avenue S.W. on November 23, 2013 and later died from his injuries in hospital.
An autopsy determined that his death was the result of a stabbing and it is believed that he was involved in two separate altercations before his death.
Franz Emir Cabrera, Joch Pouk, Assmar Ryiad Shlah and Jordan Lee Liao were all charged with second-degree murder in the case.
The jury found Cabrera and Shlah guilty of second-degree murder, Pouk guilty of manslaughter and Liao was found not guilty. The decision followed three days of deliberation where they jury considered six weeks worth of evidence presented during the trial.
Dale Hird, the victim's father. says he fought the urge to applaud the jury's decision.
“We’re pretty satisfied,” said Hird. “We knew that, especially with Assmar (Shlah), he was the instigator, he started the whole thing and justice has been served for Lukas.”
A fifth person, Nathan Paul Gervais, has been charged with first-degree murder in the case and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Crown prosecutor Ken McCaffrey called the verdict 'very just'.
”The jury took a long time, they took almost three days to come back with a verdict, so it’s quite obvious to me that they looked at the evidence as we hoped they would,” said McCaffrey.
Balour Der, Shlah's defence lawyer, was 'absolutely astounded by the verdict'.
"(Shlah's) devastated," said Der. "The boy’s in there crying. He says ‘I never touched the guy, I never touched him. How am I guilty of murder?’.”
A sentencing date has been set for August 4, 2016.
