Editor’s Note: All of the charges against the 22-year-old suspect were withdrawn in January 2017. This story has since been updated and the name of the previously accused has been removed.
CALGARY – Franz Cabrera, charged with second-degree murder in the attack on a man who was beaten to death outside a Calgary bar in 2013, was arrested last Thursday with a second suspect after a traffic stop led to a weapons and drug seizure.
Cabrera, 21, and a second 22-year-old suspect, both face charges related to possession of restricted weapons, trafficking, and defacing a serial number on a firearm. A search of a Killarney apartment and Woodbine-area home by Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) found a Walther P22 handgun with its serial number defaced, as well as $213,000 worth of drugs, including nearly a kilogram of cocaine and methamphetamine.
The charges against the 22-year-old were withdrawn in early 2017.
Cabrera also faces five charges of breach of recognizance, as he’s awaiting trial on the second-degree murder charge related to the November 2013 death of Lukas Strasser-Hird. Investigators said Strasser-Hird, then 18, was found outside a southwest bar suffering from multiple cuts and stab wounds. Police said at the time they believe he was also stomped.
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ALERT has seized 83 firearms across Alberta in the past six months that have been deemed related to organized crime and gangs; the handgun seized last Thursday has been submitted for analysis to see if it’s linked to any crimes.
ALERT said this investigation started in October after a tip about suspected drug activity. Anyone with information about drug or gang activity in their neighbourhood is encouraged to call police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.