Jury selection begins for 2 men accused of killing man east of Calgary

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated a FortisAlberta employee had been killed. In fact, a FortrisAberta employee was injured and a Rocky View County employee was killed. Global News regrets the error.

Jury selection in the trial of two men accused of killing one man and wounding another man, in a shooting east of Calgary in August of 2024, took place Thursday in a Calgary courtroom.

Thirty-five-year-old Arthur Wayne Penner and 28-year-old Elijah Blake Strawberry were the subject of a massive manhunt after the two victims were shot on Aug. 6, 2024, in a random attack on a rural road about 7 km east of Calgary in Rocky View County.

2:59 Alberta manhunt: County employee dead, utility worker hurt while shooters still at large

Investigators believe the two accused were involved in an accident in the stolen truck they were allegedly driving.

They then allegedly set the truck on fire at the intersection of Range Road 282 and Township Road 250 and tried to steal the vehicle of a FortisAlberta employee who was performing routine work in the area.

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Investigators said the second man, Colin Hough, saw the flames from the truck and stopped to help.

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When police arrived they found the two men in the intersection with gunshot wounds, but the Good Samaritan, identified as Rocky View County employee Colin Hough, was already dead, while the other victim was treated in hospital for gunshot wounds.

A provincewide manhunt ensued and Penner was arrested five days later, while the hunt for Strawberry, who had a violent criminal history, lasted more than a month before he was arrested on the O’Chiese First Nation near Rocky Mountain House.

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Both of the accused were charged with second-degree murder for the killing of Hough and attempted murder in the shooting of the Good Samaritan.

Neither of the men were in court Thursday for jury selection.

The trial is scheduled to begin on Monday.

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