Rasberry arrested for alleged breaches
Killer on bail as conviction appealed
Convicted killer Nicholas Rasberry, who is free on bail pending an appeal decision, has been arrested for allegedly breaching the conditions of his release.
Rasberry was scheduled to appear before a justice of the peace via phone in Calgary Monday afternoon.
Sources say he was arrested in Banff and charged with three breaches of his release and a single count of obstructing a peace officer.
The latter charge is often laid if an individual gives a false name to an officer conducting an investigation.
In November his lawyer, Hersh Wolch, argued before the Alberta Court of Appeal that Rasberry’s manslaughter conviction should be overturned.
Wolch said the verdict was unreasonable, stating as he had in the 2015 trial that Rasberry was acting in self-defence when he stabbed Craig Kelloway 37 times in the convictedman’ s Auburn Bay home May 4, 2013.
Court heard he used three knives in the slaying.
Rasberry testified he’d been sexually assaulted by teacher Kelloway in the kitchen of his home, and only stopped stabbing the man after he had collapsed.
The two — who were both heavily intoxicated — had met for the first time the previous afternoon over a barbecue and drinks.
“In this case, the trial judge erred by holding a victim of sexual assault to an onerous and dangerous standard when finding Mr. Rasberry, with his wife oblivious and vulnerably asleep upstairs, somehow knew the extent of Kelloway’s injuries and somehow should have known he would have been disabled while still on his feet,” Hersh told the three-judge panel.
“Every victim of sexual assault should feel confident they can fight back without having to stop and reflect in mid-struggle.”
Wolch also said Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Robert Hall failed to properly appreciate Rasberry’s mindset as he reacted to being sexually assaulted.
“The trial judge failed to recognize the legal significance of Mr. Rasberry’s conduct after the fact; Mr. Rasberry did everything anyone could ask of an innocent person,” he told court.
Rasberry, said Wolch, didn’t flee following the killing, instead promptly calling 911 and has been co-operative throughout the proceedings.
“Once he was safe, Mr. Rasberry was very concerned with Mr. Kelloway’s well-being and was expressing disbelief between dry heaving vomiting sounds,” said the lawyer, referring to a 911 call made by his client that day.
Rasberry was initially charged with second-degree murder, but was convicted of manslaughter. He was sentenced to seven years. On Monday Wolch did not have any details of Rasberry’s latest arrest, but suggested it was likely not a major problem.
‘There seems to be a constant effort to attract negative publicity in regards to Mr. Rasberry,” he said.
“At this point we don’t know anything about it, but can only assume that it’s trivial.”
On Dec. 10, 2015, the day before his sentencing submissions in Kelloway’s killing, Rasberry was charged with breaching his then bail conditions that he not consume alcohol when he was stopped at a CheckStop and blew a warning on a road-side screening device.