Garland’s new life starts with a beating
Triple murderer assaulted by several inmates just hours after being sentenced to life in prison
Douglas Garland’s lawyer said the convicted triple murderer was assaulted behind bars hours after being sentenced to life in prison, with no chance for parole for 75 years.
Sources said Garland was assaulted by several fellow inmates at the Calgary Remand Centre.
Around 10:30 p.m. Friday, members of the Calgary Police Service and EMS were called to the Calgary Remand Centre in the city’s northwest for reports of a man in his 50s who had been assaulted by several inmates.
“It’s alleged several men assaulted a 57-year-old man causing serious injuries,” said Sgt. Paul Cuthill.
Police did not confirm the identity of the victim, but sources tell Postmedia the man assaulted was Garland, who was sentenced on Friday for the murders of Alvin and Kathy Liknes and their five-yearold grandson Nathan O’Brien.
Garland’s lawyer Kim Ross said that, while he doesn’t have specific details on the assault, he had been told by authorities his client was expected to be moved from hospital back to the Calgary Remand Centre on Saturday.
Ross said the system has a responsibility to make sure Garland is protected.
“I’m really surprised and disappointed to hear this because he’s been in custody for two and a half years, we’ve never made a bail application in respect to this matter and he hasn’t had any problems,” Ross said.
“All of a sudden, the day after being found guilty and the day of his sentencing, he runs into this issue.”
EMS said the victim was transported to hospital in stable, nonlife threatening condition with soft-tissue injuries.
Crown prosecutor Shane Parker told the court Garland was motivated to kill the Liknes’ by a yearslong grudge over a failed oilfield pump Alvin Liknes and Garland worked on together more than a decade ago.
Garland was arrested more than two weeks after he violently kidnapped O’Brien and the Liknes’ from the couple’s Calgary home during an estate sale on June 29, 2014.
O’Brien was staying with his grandparents on the day of the sale for an impromptu sleepover.
Garland then took his captives to his Airdrie farm where he lived with his elderly parents to commit the murders before destroying their bodies in a burn barrel.
Alvin’s DNA was found on a charred fragment inside the barrel and Kathy’s DNA was discovered on small pieces of cloth found near the incinerator.
Both Alvin’s and Nathan’s DNA was found on a large meat saw on the Garland property.
Garland was found guilty of the murders on Thursday and Justice David Gates handed Garland 75 years in prison without the chance of parole on Friday.