Advertisement

Supreme Court dismisses appeals related to 2013 swarming death of Calgary man

Click to play video: 'Supreme Court dismisses appeals in swarming death of Lukas Strasser-Hird'
Supreme Court dismisses appeals in swarming death of Lukas Strasser-Hird
The Supreme Court of Canada on Friday dismissed appeals from Franz Emir Cabrera and Assmar Shlah. The two men were convicted in the 2013 swarming death of 18-year-old Lukas Strasser-Hird. – Nov 15, 2019

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed appeals from two men previously found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2013 swarming death of a Calgary man.

On Nov. 23, 2013, Lukas Strasser-Hird, 18, was swarmed, kicked, beaten and stabbed to death outside Calgary’s Vinyl nightclub by a group of people.

Franz Emir Cabrera and Assmar Shlah both appealed to the country’s highest court Friday, which dismissed the appeal without hearing an argument from the Crown.

Click to play video: 'Canada’s top court dismisses appeals for 2 men convicted in Calgary swarming death'
Canada’s top court dismisses appeals for 2 men convicted in Calgary swarming death

READ MORE: Franz Cabrera, convicted in 2013 Calgary swarming death, files appeal to Supreme Court of Canada

Story continues below advertisement

“It won’t be necessary to hear from the Crown,” Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella said.

Dale Hird, Lukas’ father, was “overjoyed” with the result.

“As soon as I heard the judge say the Crown didn’t need to speak, I got chills,” Hird told Global News.

“We were expecting three to six months of waiting.”

READ MORE: Convicted killer Nathan Gervais asking Alberta’s top court to throw out guilty verdict

“We waited a year on one appeal,” Debra Hird, Strasser-Hird’s grandmother, said. “You wake up every day, you look at your emails because that’s how you get the notice.”

In a split decision, the Alberta Court of Appeal rejected the bid but one justice wrote that a properly-instructed jury might not have convicted Cabrera and Shlah.

READ MORE: Man found guilty of murder in Calgary swarming death files notice of appeal to Supreme Court

Shlah and Cabrera’s appeal to Canada’s highest court tried to argue the jury’s verdict was unreasonable.

The Supreme Court’s decision agreed with Alberta Chief Justice Catherine Fraser’s decision “that the jury’s verdict was not unreasonable.”

Story continues below advertisement

READ MORE: Nathan Gervais sentenced to life with no parole for 25 years in Lukas Strasser-Hird swarming death

Strasser-Hird’s father said his son got some justice in Friday’s dismissed appeal.

Shlah had no comment on the dismissed appeal when exiting the court with his head covered by a jacket.

READ MORE: Convictions upheld for 2 men involved in Calgary teen’s murder in 2013

Two other men were convicted in the attack.

Nathan Gervais was found guilty of first-degree murder and has filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.

Joch Pouk was also found guilty of manslaughter in relation to Strasser-Hird’s death.

–with files from Nancy Hixt, Phil Heidenreich, Jayme Doll and Bryan Mullan

Sponsored content