Double-murder trial begins in brazen parking-lot shooting
Court hears from eyewitnesses to deaths of two men in gangland-style killings
As gruesome crime scene video showing the bodies of two slain men was shown in a Calgary courtroom Monday, the father of one of the victims swore at the accused killers before storming out the door.
The outburst by Colin Reitberger’s father led to Justice Earl Wilson warning those in attendance that anyone who might be inclined to act similarly should leave the courtroom.
The Court of Queen’s Bench judge said he understood the trial will likely evoke emotional reactions.
“However, this is a court of law,” Wilson said, adding the two accused men “are presumed to be innocent. That is a principle of Canadian law.”
Christian Ouellette and Blais Delaire are charged in connection with the gangland-style shooting deaths of Reitberger, 23, and Anees Amr, 26.
The two men were gunned down the evening of May 21, 2017 outside the Real Canadian Superstore on 130 Avenue S.E. as shocked bystanders looked on.
Ouellette, whom the Crown alleges was the gunman, faces two charges of first-degree murder, while Delaire is charged with two counts of manslaughter with a firearm.
Const. Justin Bennett, with the Calgary Police Service air support unit, was in the HAWCS helicopter when word of the shooting was broadcast.
Bennett played video showing the scene just minutes after the crime, with the two victims laying motionless on the parking lot pavement a short distance apart, pools of blood forming around each man’s head.
In her opening address before Wilson, who is hearing the trial without a jury, Crown prosecutor Katherine Love said there was animosity between Ouellette and Reitberger.
“The Crown alleges that Christian Ouellette was the person who shot and killed Colin Reitberger and Anees Amr and that he planned to do so,” Love said. “The Crown also alleges that Blais Delaire
aided and abetted Christian Ouellette.”
Love said she hopes to establish Delaire helped Ouellette obtain a firearm illegally, knew what his intention was and encouraged his co-accused “by providing advice as to how Ouellette should kill Colin Reitberger.”
In evidence, court heard from two eyewitnesses to the carnage.
Claudio and Shelly Gorsedin were walking across the parking lot with their 13-year-old son when they heard shots ring out.
“It came from behind us, as first I thought it was a firecracker, or a car backfiring,” Claudio Gorsedin said. “We heard at least a half dozen (after that).”
The trio ducked behind a nearby tree as the alleged shooter drove away, heading westbound on 130 Avenue towards Deerfoot Trail S.E., but not before Shelly Gorsedin took pictures of the fleeing vehicle.
According to a statement of agreed facts signed by the accused and defence lawyers Balfour Der and Susan Karpa, Reitberger was shot six times, twice in the head, and Amr was struck four times.
The trial is scheduled for four weeks.