RED DEER, Alta. – A retired Mountie from central Alberta has pleaded guilty to improperly storing the handgun his wife used to kill herself.
Garth Anholt, who is 57 and from Red Deer, admits he left the loaded .357 magnum in his bedroom in June 2014.
Judge Les Grieve ordered a conditional discharge.
That means if Anholt successfully completes nine months of probation, he will not have a criminal record.
The Crown told court the gun was not in a locked safe, nor did it have a trigger lock as is required.
Anholt was the one who found his wife, Theresa, after she committed suicide.
“She was my everything,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “It’s been a long year and a long process.”
Anholt spent his career in law enforcement in several Alberta communities. He was retired, but still worked as a civilian employee with the RCMP in Red Deer, where he served as a liaison between the detachment and the local courthouse.
Defence lawyer Will Willms said Anholt lost that job as a result of the charge.
The judge accepted a joint submission by the Crown and defence on sentencing.
(Red Deer Advocate)
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