PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – A Saskatchewan man convicted of murdering a friend he was planning a robbery with has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years. Daniel Smith was found guilty in January of shooting ATM technician Roger Byer six years ago.
Byer, who was 57, was last seen on Jan. 20, 2010, in Melfort, where he was working on an automated-teller machine.
His body was found the following April in an abandoned farm yard.
Smith testified during his trial in Prince Albert Queen’s Bench Court that it was actually his girlfriend at the time who had shot Byer when the robbery plans went wrong.
READ MORE: Man convicted of second-degree murder in death of ATM technician
Another man has been charged with accessory after the fact, but has yet to go to trial.
Smith told the jury that he and his girlfriend met Byer to plan an ATM robbery. He said Byer had “borrowed without asking” money from the bank where he worked and was worried about being audited. Byer’s plan was to fake a robbery from the ATM to replace what he took.
Smith said Byer needed to look bruised to make the robbery look authentic, so he punched him in the face. He said that was enough to set Byer off.
Byer got “quite uptight” about the hit and started shouting and throwing punches, testified Smith. It was then, Smith said, that his girlfriend shot Byer from the passenger door of a truck.
It took the jury less than three hours to decide it was Smith who had shot Byer.