Man sentenced to 16 years in fatal shooting files appeal
A man who shot and killed a motorist after slamming into his truck on a rural road outside Edmonton is seeking a sentence reduction.
Matthew Lorne Anderson filed a notice of appeal of his 16-year manslaughter sentence last Friday. He pleaded guilty Sept. 18 to manslaughter for shooting 24-year-old Harpreet (Harry) Kang in the head with a pistol in the aftermath of a collision.
Anderson drove his Acura into Kang's pickup just before 9 p.m. on April 9, 2018, according to an agreed statement of facts filed as part of Anderson's guilty plea. The collision happened near Range Road 234 and Township Road 515, southeast of Anthony Henday Drive.
Anderson admitted to drinking vodka prior to the crash. Two people who saw him at a party in Beaumont that afternoon said he was unsteady on his feet from a combination of alcohol and prescription pain medication. Anderson left in his car at 8:41 p.m., eventually headed northbound on Range Road 234.
Kang and an acquaintance, meanwhile, were sitting in a parked Ford F-150 at the north end of the range road.
Anderson was travelling 163 km/ h in the seconds before the collision. He slammed on the brakes, but was still going 103 km/ h when the two vehicles collided.
The car then crashed through a fence and came to a stop in a field 79 metres from Kang's pickup.
All three people involved in the crash survived. Kang walked over to check on Anderson, and the two walked back to the truck together.
Kang wanted to call police for help but Anderson was adamant, offering him money in exchange for not calling 911. At the time of the crash, Anderson was disobeying two court orders: a one-year driving prohibition and a lifetime firearms ban.
Despite the ban, Anderson carried a Glock pistol in a shoulder holster.
The disagreement between Kang and Anderson escalated. At one point, Kang told Anderson “you're drunk.” At 9:02 p.m., Kang called a friend, who heard a man in the background say “who you trying to call?” before the call ended abruptly (Kang's other friend stayed in the damaged truck and did not speak to Anderson).
Anderson then pulled the Glock from its holster and pointed it at Kang. During a brief scuffle, Anderson pulled the trigger. The 10
mm round struck Kang in the head. Anderson then walked away, dropping the Glock in the bush 1.6 km southeast of the collision scene. A police dog team found Anderson's phone the next day, a kilometre east of where the gun was discarded.
The agreed facts state: “The Crown does not assert, and the accused does not admit, that he intended to kill Kang.”
A Facebook fundraising page set up days after Kang's death said he was a husband, brother and son and his family's only breadwinner. An international student, he had recently finished his studies and was on his way home from a truck driving job. He was supposed to meet his younger sister the next
day when she arrived from India to begin her studies.
Anderson, who was 33 at the time of the crash, was arrested the following month and charged with first-degree murder.
Sentences for manslaughter involving a firearm run from four years to life in prison.
Crown prosecutor Patricia Hankinson asked for a sentence of 16 to 18 years.
Justice Adam Germain agreed to a sentence of 16 years, minus time Anderson spent in pretrial custody.
Anderson's notice makes no mention of the grounds for his appeal.