A judge will decide next month if Nicholas Miklic, 24, will be convicted of a traffic charge of careless driving after the rental van he was driving collided head-on with a car, killing Jonathan Sobol and Alec Bracegirdle on Aug. 30, 2016.
Sobol was the chef at Starbelly restaurant and Bracegirdle was a videographer.
They were returning from a photo shoot when they were hit as the cube van passed a semi-truck on Highway 9, south of Irricana, Alta.
It was a legal passing lane on a section of road with a long s-curve.
Miklic’s Dec. 20 trial in Calgary was attended by the families of both victims.
Phil Bracegirdle said it was the first time they have seen the accused, adding it was very emotional hearing testimony about the crash.
“We’d like to see him express his regret for what happened,” he said. “We’d like to see him acknowledge the things that he has done and we’d like to see some kind of closure for (wife) Linda and to get on with our lives.”
Bob Sobol and his family said the memory of their son is with them every day.
“This is not something that any parent should ever go through,” Sobol said. “Myself personally, this is just another step in a very long nightmare.
“People think it might bring closure. I’m not sure that it does. It’s just another step.”
Miklic took the stand in his own defence, recounting the incident and describing how he ran to the car with Sobol and Bracegirdle inside to check for a pulse. He said he then broke down.
In closing arguments, defence lawyer Brendan Mill summarized the incident as a momentary misjudgment and an “accident.”
The judge in the case will issue a decision Jan. 30, 2018.
Regardless of the outcome, the victims’ families said they want to focus on the memories of their sons.
“I hope…our hope is that Nicholas learns from it and he makes his life better because of it,” Bracegirdle said.
“That’s really the only thing we can hope for. It’s too late for our young son, Alec, and it’s too late for Jonathan.”
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