Calgary Herald

`Let me put my child to rest,' mother begs

Slain son's remains never recovered after being tossed into river by two men

- KEVIN MARTIN Kmartin@postmedia.com Twitter: @Kmartincou­rts

Her voice cracking with emotion, a Calgary mom on Wednesday begged the man who disposed of her slain son's body to reveal where his remains are.

Shirley Smith told court she didn't believe Andrew Leger-wagner's claim that he and another man tossed her son Shane's body into the fast-flowing Bow River from a Deerfoot Trail bridge on June 6, 2020.

“You have not just hidden my son from me … but you took me with him. Half of me died the instant my son was murdered,” Smith said, before Crown prosecutor Mike Ewenson pointed out that Shane Smith's killer pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death.

“Please say where my son is. It makes no sense to anyone that you tossed my child from a bridge on a busy road,” she said.

“How could you treat my son like he was nothing more than the garbage you toss away?” Smith said as Leger-wagner sat silently in the prisoner's box.

“Please say where Shane is. Let me put my child to rest. Tell me where I can find my Shane, I am begging you.”

Earlier, reading from a statement of agreed facts, Ewenson told provincial court Judge Harry Van Harten that Leger-wagner, 24, and another man disposed of the victim's body at the request of his killer, Ian Abercrombi­e.

Abercrombi­e had shot Smith, who was a friend, in the face inside a Mckenzie Towne residentia­l garage while joking around with an AR-15 rifle without checking for a round in the chamber.

Abercrombi­e then put the dead man's body in his trunk and drove to his Bridlewood residence where he persuaded Leger-wagner and another man to dispose of the corpse.

After Smith's body was placed in the trunk of Leger-wagner's car, he and his accomplice drove to a Deerfoot Trail bridge over the Bow River just south of Calgary city limits.

“It was removed from the trunk and rolled off the bridge,” Ewenson said.

“Despite searches by both emergency personnel, volunteers and the family of Mr. Smith, his body has never been recovered.”

Smith's father, Bill, also addressed the court.

“My son, Shane, had his life taken from him by someone he considered his friend, Ian Abercrombi­e,” the dad said, choking back tears.

“Then Ian did the most cowardly and heartless act by taking my son's body and hiding it from us. He enlisted the aid of Andrew Leger-wagner and had my son's body tossed away in a most disgracefu­l manner.”

Ewenson suggested a two-year prison term on the charge of causing an indignity to a body, which Leger-wagner pleaded guilty to, would be an appropriat­e punishment.

Defence counsel Matthew Walton argued a conditiona­l sentence of just under two years to be served in the community followed by three years of probation was warranted. Van Harten agreed with Walton, finding that sending Leger-wagner to a federal penitentia­ry would negatively affect his mental health concerns, which would be better dealt with while under nearly five years of supervisio­n.

He said the offender will be under house arrest for the first six months and abide by a curfew for the next half-year.

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