Two men charged with helping murder suspect flee to Vietnam

Two Calgary men are facing charges after they allegedly helped murder suspect Nathan Gervais flee to Vietnam. Gervais was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Lukas StrasserHird, who was killed outside Vinyl Nightclub, on Nov. 23, 2013.

While under house arrest, Gervais did not appear for his trial in April 2016 and was later found and arrested in Vietnam.

“This has been a long-standing investigation,” said Staff Sgt. Colin Chisholm with the Calgary police homicide unit. “It started soon after Nathan failed to appear and it’s been a matter of gathering information on an incremental basis. It came to a point where we were (Thursday) in being able to lay charges.”

Canada-wide warrants were issued for Gervais after he disappeared from his Calgary home in 2016. Calgary police said last year that it took months of co-ordination with Vietnamese authorities, Japanese police and Interpol to bring Gervais back to Canada.

The investigation sends a message to others, Chisholm said.

“Helping somebody fail to appear for a murder trial is incredibly serious, so we take that incredibly seriously, and therefore, it did take a long time,” he said.

Sean Airey, 27, and Marshall Quillian, 21, are charged.