Teen found guilty of shooting German tourist

Judge says Facebook messages sent by youth prove he was the gunman

CALGARY Social media messages in which an Alberta teen admitted police were looking for him because he “shot somebody in the head” helped convict him Friday of aggravated assault.

Calgary provincial court Judge George Gaschler also found the teen, who can’t be identified, guilty of recklessly discharging a firearm into a vehicle knowing there was a person present.

Horst Stewin, who was visiting Canada with family members, was driving on Hwy. 1A west of Calgary on Aug. 2, 2018, when a bullet struck him in the head.

After the German man returned home for further medical treatment, fragments were surgically removed from his skull.

Gaschler ruled Facebook messages sent from the teen’s account were sent by him and proved he was the gunman.

“I find the Facebook conversation ... is not hearsay but an admission against interest,” Gaschler said in his lengthy written ruling.

The messages included the line: “Cops looking for me cause I shot somebody in the head. That was me.”

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 10 and in the interim, defence counsel Balfour Der has asked a report be prepared on his 17-year-old client’s Indigenous background.

Outside court, the lawyer said he was surprised by the result.

“I’m actually quite disappointed,” Der said, shortly after the sentencing date was set.

“I thought there was plenty of reasonable doubt, primarily on the quality of the witnesses,” Der said.

He said based on the cross-examination of those who were in the car with his client at the time of the shooting, “I don’t know that you could believe anything they said.”

He said two of the key witnesses for the Crown “had (my client) shooting from different parts of the car.”

Der said the verdict was taken hard by the teen’s family, particularly his grandmother.

“She’s quite upset,” Der said, noting his client will soon be turning 18.

“They had other hopes and plans for his 18th birthday other than him being in jail.”

In his ruling, Gaschler said it was clear the teen was the author of the telling Facebook messages.

“A submission that an impostor may have hacked into (his) Facebook account or that an impostor may have created a new Facebook account with the appearance of being (his) without any evidence in support is speculation,”

I find the Facebook conversation ... is not hearsay but an admission against interest.

Gaschler said.

German doctors were able to remove eight bullet fragments from Stewin’s head, but the wound has left him paralyzed on his right side.

The teen, a member of the Stoney Nakoda First Nation, remains in custody.